Drawing room play

A drawing room play is a type of play, developed during the Victorian period in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. They set upper- and middle-class characters confronting a social problem of the time with a comedic twist.^[1] The play is formed from a blend of three parts: part well-made play, part society drama, part comedy of manners.^[2] Exponents of this style include Henrik Ibsen, Arthur Wing Pinero, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Edward Martyn and George Moore.^[1]

The name drawing room play has its origins in the upper and middle classes of Victorian society, who with time on their hands, enacted amateur plays for the pleasure of their families in the drawing room.^[3]

The style was later revisited by playwrights such as Noël Coward and J. B. Priestley; with in turn John Osborne and the Angry young men, in reaction to the revival, creating kitchen sink dramas.^[4]

Examples

Dying for Love by John Maddison Morton^[5]
Orange Blossoms by J. P. Wooler^[5]
Romantic Attachment by Arthur Wood^[5]
Match Making by John Poole^[6]
The Gay Lord Quex by Arthur Wing Pinero^[2]
Lady Frederick by W. Somerset Maugham^[2]
Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the most widely known examples of the drawing room play. His other plays in this style are Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband.
Aren't We All? by Frederick Lonsdale^[2]
Relative Values by Noël Coward^[2]
An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley^[7]
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b David Scott Kastan (2006). The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-19-516921-8.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO DRAWING-ROOM COMEDY?". New York Times. 28 April 1985.
^ Rachael Barnwell, Richard Suggett (2014). Y Tu Mewn i Gartrefi Cymru / Inside Welsh Homes. RCAHMW. p. 101. ISBN 9781871184501.
^ Peter Auger (2010). The Anthem Dictionary of Literary Terms and Theory. Anthem Press. p. 87. ISBN 9780857286703.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wentworth Hogg (1881). Guide to Selecting Plays Or, Managers' Companion. S. French. p. 20.
^ Wentworth Hogg (1881). Guide to Selecting Plays Or, Managers' Companion. S. French. p. 26.
^ "An Inspector Calls: a riveting drawing room play". New Age. 14 December 2018.
^ "The last word on the drawing-room play Walnut Street Theatre presents Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Broad Street Review. 22 January 2024.

[Scott_Kastan-1] David Scott Kastan (2006). The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-19-516921-8.

[NYT-2] "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO DRAWING-ROOM COMEDY?". New York Times. 28 April 1985.

[3] Rachael Barnwell, Richard Suggett (2014). Y Tu Mewn i Gartrefi Cymru / Inside Welsh Homes. RCAHMW. p. 101. ISBN 9781871184501.

[Auger-4] Peter Auger (2010). The Anthem Dictionary of Literary Terms and Theory. Anthem Press. p. 87. ISBN 9780857286703.

[Guide-5] Wentworth Hogg (1881). Guide to Selecting Plays Or, Managers' Companion. S. French. p. 20.

[6] Wentworth Hogg (1881). Guide to Selecting Plays Or, Managers' Companion. S. French. p. 26.

[7] "An Inspector Calls: a riveting drawing room play". New Age. 14 December 2018.

[8] "The last word on the drawing-room play Walnut Street Theatre presents Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Broad Street Review. 22 January 2024.

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Drawing room play

Drawing room play

Drawing room play

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Drawing room play

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