The Group: A Farce

In 1775, when women were expected to be invisible in political life, Mercy Otis Warren wrote a play so viciously funny that British authorities reportedly hunted its author. The Group is a farce set in a dimly lit Boston parlor where a cast of pompous judges, bumbling military officers, and sniveling sycophants tear each other apart over their loyalty to the Crown. Warren's characters are exaggerated, ridiculous, and absolutely devastating: they preen and plot, betray and backstab, all while insisting they're men of principle. The comedy is broad, the satire is sharp, and the message is unmistakable: those who profit from tyranny will always betray their neighbors to protect themselves. This is Revolutionary-era political propaganda raised to theatrical art, written by a woman who refused to be silent. The dialogue crackles with wit, the timing is merciless, and the portrait of loyalist hypocrisy remains strangely recognizable centuries later. For readers who think politics was always this absurd, The Group proves it was.