Читать книгу Congreve's Comedy of Manners - William Congreve - Страница 5

INTRODUCTION

My intention in writing this play was to distill the essence of Congreve, to the extent of my ability, into one stage-worthy play. Congreve wrote four comedies, The Way of The World being his acknowledged masterpiece. Love for Love is less brilliant but easier to perform, though it seldom is. His earlier plays, The Old Bachelor and the Double Dealer, contain very good material but are rarely read let alone performed. Revival is unlikely. I had the idea of building a pastiche of all the comedies.

My plan was to build on the general plot of Love for Love, and weave characters and dialogue from the other plays into and around it. In the process some characters are blended with other characters, and acquire clever dialogue found elsewhere. The result is, hopefully, a lively play that will keep Congreve’s best work before the public eye.

But for a transitional phrase or two, almost every line in this play is Congreve’s. It stands to reason then, that whatever virtues it has are his, and whatever faults are mine. The play is not meant as an imitation or improvement of Congreve but rather a “good parts” version of his existing works.

—Frank J. Morlock