Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 -1816) was an Irish playwright and Whig statesman. On May 8, 1777, Sheridan directed his masterpiece, A School for Scandal, at the Drury Lane Theater. School for Scandal is a comedy of manners contrasting two brothers who are both are courting the same woman. Joseph, a hypocrite, is interested in her fortune, and Charles, a spendthrift, is in love with her. A gossipy group of friends complicate matters.