4.5*
2020 reread - just what I needed today!
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2016 reread:
I still think that this play needs to be seen to fully appreciate it but I liked this audiobook recording of a live performance. It was easier to listen to this time (I have had more practice!) and thus I found it even funnier than when I heard it a few years ago.
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May 2014 review
4.5 stars. This full cast audiobook was a fun way to revisit one of my favorite Restoration comedies. However, I did find that some of the humor was a bit harder to visualize listening rather than reading. ( )

FB: (Vintage Paperback and Pulp Forum). Another late '60s book from high school. "She Stoops To Conquer" was originally published in 1773. The comedic plot, a young lady poses as a serving girl to win the heart of a young gentleman too shy to court ladies of his own class, could be of a movie coming out this year, or anytime in the past 100 years.

My grandfather gave me an old book of plays when I was a young teenager. This was one of my favorites. It's basically a romantic farce. It has held up pretty well since it was first performed in London in 1773. It is very accessible since I read it at probably 13 years old. So if you're at all interested in seeing what was being performed on stage between Shakespeare and Cats, give it a try. ( )

Witty, clever, excellent. I'd love to see this performed. ( )

Read in high school!

L.A. Theatre Works audio presentation of the classic play full of mistaken identities and endless hijinks. Two friends end up at an estate where they're supposed to make a good impression and one of them is to woo the daughter of the lord of the manor. However, they are informed by the mischief-making son that it's an inn. Comedy ensues. A funny way to spend a couple hours and it definitely doesn't hurt that James Marsters plays one of the leading roles. ( )

A pair of young women work their wiles to catch and marry the men of their choices. Deception plays a strong part. ( )

Time has not been kind to this play, though in its day it was quite the thing. Pranksters misdirect travelers to a private home which they believe is an inn and romantic mayhem ensues. I do think a talented screenwriter could bring it up to date and make a decent Romcom out of it. ( )

Kind of fun & funny; the language is so different, being written in 1773. I liked it. :) ( )

If you've never read or seen a comedy of errors or farcical play like those of [a:William Shakespeare|947|William Shakespeare|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1360741702p2/947.jpg] and [a:Oscar Wilde|3565|Oscar Wilde|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1357460488p2/3565.jpg], then you might find this more entertaining than I did. Having studied Wilde's slightly more modern [b:The Importance of Being Earnest|92303|The Importance of Being Earnest|Oscar Wilde|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1298438452s/92303.jpg|649216] in great detail as a teenager and later watching [b:An Ideal Husband|5296|An Ideal Husband|Oscar Wilde|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348131690s/5296.jpg|130598], you come to realise this genre is little more than a one-trick pony; if you've seen one, you've seen them all. Besides minimal alterations in events, only the cast and the production values change from play to play, from performance to performance. Originality is harder to come by in these older and somewhat old fashioned, and perhaps less sophisticated, plays. Wilde managed to stand out from the crowd with his tricky witticisms and absurdities. She Stoops to Conquers possesses nothing so unique, as far as I can tell.

The repetitive nature of this sort of play's light humour devices such as the use of puns, wordplay, slapstick and the heavily relied upon mistaken identity trope (which is used here), concluding with the inevitable romantic happy ever after enacted by genteel, upper class main characters making satirical references to gender and class politics before falling in love at the drop of a hat (sometimes literally), tend to leave me a little bored of the predictability while only evoking a chuckle or two at most.

Also repetitive was the use of the word 'impudent'. Unfortunately this was written pre-thesaurus so I'll have to forgive Goldsmith's overuse since he didn't have easy access to synonyms like we do today.

Honestly, the skillful audio portrayal of She Stoops to Conquer by the distinct voices of a full cast, especially Spike James Marsters, is solely responsible for capturing and maintaining my attention throughout. I imagined Mr. Marsters in his Buffy persona's pre-vampire days as a less feeble version of the English gentleman William Pratt. You'd never know he's 100% American from his superb upper crust and unrefined British accents. Twice my age and yet I still perk up at the sound of his voice. *smiles*


*Downloaded for free during Audiobook Sync's 2013 annual summer event. ( )

2020 reread - just what I needed today!
--------
2016 reread:
I still think that this play needs to be seen to fully appreciate it but I liked this audiobook recording of a live performance. It was easier to listen to this time (I have had more practice!) and thus I found it even funnier than when I heard it a few years ago.
-----------------------
May 2014 review
4.5 stars. This full cast audiobook was a fun way to revisit one of my favorite Restoration comedies. However, I did find that some of the humor was a bit harder to visualize listening rather than reading. ( )

*Review of LA Theatre Works Audiobook Edition*

I went into this book with very little expectation. I mean, it's a supposed classic that I've never heard of, and drama isn't my particular favorite. However, it was a free audiobook download from Sync this summer, and it was the recording of a theater production that included James Marsters (eek!). It's also only a couple of hours long (not a huge commitment at all), so I decided to give it a go.

Um, why haven't I heard of this play before? Because it's hilarious! 20 minutes in, I was laughing non-stop and having a thoroughly good time. The fact that this is recorded theatre gives it a huge advantage, since the performers give their lines with perfect emphasis and tone. She Stoops to Conquer is a typical comedy that centers around mistaken identities and misunderstood situations. All of the characters are funny and loveable, and the talent of the performers is unmistakable, even without being able to see them act it out.

I'm so glad that I had the chance to discover this play, and that I was able to do so in an audio format. I think that most plays are meant to be heard and/or seen, and I would definitely recommend staying away from the print and going straight to a performance or this audio version for She Stoops to Conquer. Many of the jokes wouldn't be very funny without hearing the interaction between the characters and without hearing the inflections of the words.

The plot is fairly predictable; however, because of its simplicity and some of the extremely ludicrous characters (like Mrs. Hardcastle), I believe this was written as a parody of the mistaken identities type of play that Shakespeare is so famous for.

If you ever get the chance to listen to this, or see it performed, do so! It's one of the funniest plays I've come across. ( )

Charming satire concerns a young lady who poses as a serving girl to win the heart of a young gentleman too shy to court ladies of his own class. Notes.

We could all learn a lesson from Tony Lumpkin: life needs more tricks! Let's not dress it up, this is a romp, and one that takes a certain amount of charm from its enlightenment brittleness--the previous ages would not have dwelled so long on the reversal of social roles--but also from its enlinghtenment sap--the Victorians wouldn't have given themselves over to the bawdy good times. The Enlightenment! It was a well-balanced era! ( )

4767. She Stoops To Conquer or The Mistakes of a Night, by Oliver Goldsmith (read 16 Oct 2010) This play was first performed in 1773 and has been often performed since. I decided one should see it rather than read it. I found it hard to follow on a perhaps too cursory reading, and drew little entertainment from it. ( )

A romantic comedy for the Restoration? I was amused. I'd probably be even more amused if I could see it in performance, but is there a play that that's not true of?

Is there something that makes you laugh each time to you read or watch it? This is my guaranteed to laugh aloud piece! ( )

Having seen this live at the Canadian Stratford, I can vouch that it is amazingly funny in performance ( )

A bone-headed edition of a very good play. ( )

Fiction

Leather bound from the Library of Lawrence and Ruth Whitcomb