Encore MacNally?: A Dramatic Tristram Shandy in Manuscript and in Print

Abstract

Leonard MacNally’s two-act dramatic adaptation of Tristram Shandy, first performed at Covent Garden in 1783, has attracted considerable critical attention in studies of Sterneana. However, those discussions are largely based on the printed version of the text, bolstered by reviews found in contemporary newspapers, leading to many conclusions about the content, performance contexts, and adaptive qualities of MacNally’s work. Consulting the manuscript version of this short play provides us with a much clearer view of the Tristram Shandy that was actually performed on stage compared with the printed version consumed by readers. Comparing these two versions reveals the play’s excised scenes and its numerous internal changes — hitherto only glimpsed through newspaper reviews. This comparison substantiates conclusions about the nature of MacNally’s investment in Sterne, supported by some comment on his Sentimental Excursions to Windsor and Other Places (1781). It also informs our knowledge of the multi-authored, collaborative theatrical culture of his day; the stage as arena for political satire; the differences between performance and reading play-texts; and the audience’s appetite for different forms of comedy.