Love's Contrivance

In 1703, a woman had to hide her name to publish a play. Susanna Centlivre did just that, and the result crackles with the energy of a society where women had almost no legal power yet wielded enormous influence through wit and manipulation. Lucinda faces an impossible choice: marry the wealthy Sir Toby Doubtful whom her father demands, or follow her heart to the penniless Bellmie. Her solution involves elaborate deception, a series of increasingly absurd disguises, and a servant turned unlikely architect of the whole contrivance. Based on Molière but transformed into something distinctly Centlivre's own, this is Restoration comedy at its most playful where the cleverest person in the room usually wins, and love is worth any amount of audacious scheming. The period's attitudes toward marriage, class, and gender crackle beneath the surface of every witty exchange.