Engaged: W S Gilbert

Engaged, W.S. Gilbert’s most popular stage work after the comic operas he produced in collaboration with Arthur Sullivan, is a farcical comedy that has long lived in the literary shadows – although wildly neglected today, the play influenced literary names as great as George Bernard Shaw, and directly inspired Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Centring on a rich young man’s search for a wife and his uncle and best friend’s attempts to hinder him, the play toys with conventional notions of love and sincerity. In this edition, which also contains notes and an essay by the undisputed authority on W.S. Gilbert, Andrew Crowther, Engaged deserves to step out into the spotlight once more. 'The laughter was almost incessant.' The New York Times 'The satirical comedy of Mr Gilbert has all the sting, smack and strength of neat brandy… a sudden gulp of it is apt to take one’s breath away.' The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News