This edition sheds light on Farquhar's work, highlighting its status as an account of army corruption and sexual intrigue, and its relevance to later literature such as Brecht's Trumpets and Drums , Keneally's The Playmaker , and Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good.
This edition sheds light on Farquhar's work, highlighting its status as an account of army corruption and sexual intrigue, and its relevance to later literature such as Brecht's Trumpets and Drums, Keneally's The Playmaker, and Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good.
This edition sheds light on Farquhar's work, highlighting its status as an account of army corruption and sexual intrigue, and its relevance to later literature such as Brecht's Trumpets and Drums , Keneally's The Playmaker , and Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good.
This edition sheds light on Farquhar's work, highlighting its status as an account of army corruption and sexual intrigue, and its relevance to later literature such as Brecht's Trumpets and Drums, Keneally's The Playmaker, and Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good.
This completely new edition of The Recruiting Officer contains a freshly-edited play text, with new annotations, in modern spelling. Tiffany Stern's comprehensive and engaging introduction discusses the author's career and gives a history of the play including its staging, critical interpretation, date and sources, putting it its context of the late Restoration and illuminating its theatrical vivacity.
Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer is set in Shrewsbury in 1704 and describes what happens in a country town when the army come to stay. With cross-dressing and confusion in plenty, this is a comedy exploring the timeless themes of love and war. One of Farquhar's last two plays, The Recruiting Officer is both entertaining and touching. It has a light, humane touch and its original depiction of a real-life provincial town comically explores the impact that ongoing warfare had on its civilian society.
The editor, Tiffany Stern, is Professor of Early Modern Drama at Oxford University. She is a General Editor of the New Mermaid Series, and is author of Rehearsal from Shakespeare to Sheridan (2000), Making Shakespeare (2004), Shakespeare in Parts (co-written with Simon Palfrey, 2007), and Documents of Performance in Early Modern England (2009).
Farquhar's last two plays, The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem, have been called 'the last worthwhile comedies of the Restoration tradition'. Written during Farquhar's stint in Shrewsbury as part of a recruiting mission in 1704-5, The Recruiting Officer is a buoyant, whimsical piece stocked by a fairly conventional cast of characters: the rake-hero and his spirited lady (who dons breeches in the course of the action), his sober friend and the heroine's serious friend, the buffoon/coxcomb and his ill-fated amorous or heroic ventures. What makes the play entertaining is Farquhar's light, humane touch; what makes it original is his depiction of a real-life provincial town and the impact that ongoing warfare (in this case the War of the Spanish Succession) had on its civilian society.
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.