The School for Scandal

A comedy of manners, set in the high fashion of London in 1775, Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The School for Scandal is a hilarious comedy of cunning and deceit. Brothers Joseph and Charles Surface are orphans in the care of their uncle, Sir Peter Teazle. Both brothers wish to marry the beautiful Maria. Lady Sneerwell, a malicious gossipmonger, wants to marry Charles and spreads false rumors about an affair between Charles and Lady Teazle in an attempt to make Maria reject Charles. Meanwhile, Joseph is attempting to seduce Lady Teazle. The brothers have a rich uncle, Sir Oliver, whom they have never met, and who visits them both incognito to test their characters before deciding which of them shall inherit his fortune. Rumors fly, innuendo pervades, and a situation comedy arises from outrageous characters having their way creating a school for scandal.