She Stoops To Folly

by Tom Murphy

"The most distinctive, the most restless, the most obsessive imagination at work in the Irish theatre today" Brian Friel



Modelled on Oliver Goldsmith's classic novel The Vicar of Wakefield, Murphy builds a comedy peopled with thieves, pimps, bawds, lechers and imposters who will prey on innocence unless God - or the ruling class - takes a hand. It centres around the downfall of Dr Primrose, who relates the misadventures that have caused his downfall and brought disintegration and ruin on his loved ones.

112 pages, Paperback

First published December 25, 1996

About the author

Tom Murphy (born 1935) is an Irish dramatist who has worked closely with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and with Druid Theatre, Galway. Born in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland, he currently lives in Dublin.

Reviews

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It takes a lot to make a facsimile of 18th century drama: the verbosity, the curious moral codes, the lengthy expositions on the nature of society and the will of God. And the author deserves credit for making it as long-winded and dull as the dreariest of such plays. But what's the point? I found the whole procedure (a play-reading) a tedious grind. And at the end I didn't really understand what had happened.