Single Life

Sarah Snare begins by inspecting John Niggle's books and furniture, already imagining the changes she would make as his wife. David Damper interrupts with a very different plan: keeping his nervous friend single. Their quarrel sets the tone for John Baldwin Buckstone's comedy in three acts, first performed in 1839. Its company of bachelors and unmarried women includes the bashful Peter Pinkey, the vain Narcissus Boss and the romantic Jessy Meadows.

Much of the fun comes from courtship conducted under everyone's watchful eye. At Miss Snare's tea table, Pinkey confuses his duties so badly that he nearly tips coal into a guest's lap, while whispers about Charles Chester and Caroline Coy feed suspicion. Detailed costumes and stage directions make the play useful for readers interested in how comedy worked in the theatre. Its busy social gatherings also offer an amusing study of vanity, gossip and the friends who presume to manage other people's happiness.