Editing Richard Brinsley Sheridan (section)

==Literary career==
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In 1775 Sheridan's first play, ''[[The Rivals]]'', was produced at London's [[Covent Garden Theatre]]. It was a failure on its first night, and [[John Lee (British actor)|John Lee]]'s performance as Sir Lucius O'Trigger was criticised for rendering the character "ridiculous and disgusting". Sheridan rewrote the play and presented it again a few days later, with [[Laurence Clinch]] replacing Lee in the role.<ref>[[James Boaden]], ''Memoirs of Mrs Siddons'', H. C. Carey, I. Lea and E. Littell, Philadelphia, 1827, Vol. 1, p. 122.</ref> In its reworked form it was a huge success,<ref>{{cite book |last=De Breffny |first=Brian |author-link= |date=1983 |title=Ireland: A Cultural Encyclopedia |url= |location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson |page=217|isbn=}}</ref>immediately establishing the young playwright's reputation and the favour of fashionable London. It went on to become a standard of [[English literature]].

Shortly after the success of ''The Rivals'', Sheridan and his father-in-law [[Thomas Linley the Elder]], a successful composer, produced the opera ''[[The Duenna]]''. This piece, warmly received, played for seventy-five performances.

His most famous play, ''[[The School for Scandal]]'', premiered at Drury Lane on 8 May 1777. It is considered one of the greatest [[comedy of manners|comedies of manners]] in English. It was followed by ''[[The Critic (play)|The Critic]]'' (1779), an updating of the satirical [[Restoration play]] [[The Rehearsal (play)|''The Rehearsal'']].

Having quickly made his name and fortune, in 1776 Sheridan bought [[David Garrick]]'s share in the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane]] patent, and in 1778 the remaining share; his later plays were all produced there.<ref>''The Oxford Companion to the Theatre'', edited by [[Phyllis Hartnoll]], OUP (1951)</ref> In 1778 Sheridan wrote ''[[The Camp (play)|The Camp]]'', which commented on the ongoing threat of a French invasion of Britain. The same year Sheridan's brother-in-law [[Thomas Linley the younger|Thomas Linley]], a young composer who worked with him at Drury Lane Theatre, died in a boating accident. Sheridan had a rivalry with his fellow playwright [[Richard Cumberland (dramatist)|Richard Cumberland]] and included a parody of Cumberland in his play ''The Critic''. On 24 February 1809 (despite the much vaunted fire safety precautions of 1794) the theatre burned down. On being encountered drinking a glass of wine in the street while watching the fire, Sheridan was famously reported to have said, "A man may surely be allowed to take a glass of wine by his own fireside."<ref>''The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations'' (1999) [[OUP]]</ref> Sheridan was the manager of the theatre for many years, and later became sole owner with no managerial role.