Critic, The, or a Tragedy Rehearsed

Critic, The, or a Tragedy Rehearsed, a comedy by R. B. Sheridan, produced 1779.

Based on Buckingham's The Rehearsal, The Critic is an exuberant burlesque on the problems of producing a play. The work under rehearsal by its distraught producer is ‘The Spanish Armada’, a ludicrous parody of the modish tragic drama of the day (see, for example, Cumberland, R., Colman, G.). Mr Puff, the author, has invited to the rehearsal Dangle and Sneer, two savage and inept theatre critics, and Sir Fretful Plagiary (a caricature of Cumberland). His absurd historical drama, written in both the bombastic and the sentimental styles, introduces Sir Walter Ralegh, Sir Christopher Hatton, the earl of Leicester, Lord Burleigh, and others, at the time when the armada is approaching. Meanwhile Tilburina, the daughter of the governor of Tilbury Fort, complicates the plot with her love for Don Ferolo Whiskerandos, a Spanish prisoner. The action of the main play, including the solemn discussions by the author and his guests, their confused involvement with the rehearsal, and continual interruptions by producer, actors, and stage hands, continues with undiminished vivacity to the end.