SOURCE: Bevis, Richard. “George Colman (1732-1794).” In The Laughing Tradition: Stage Comedy in Garrick's Day, pp. 174-88. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1980.

In the following excerpt, Bevis reviews Colman's comedic plays, concluding that while their literary merit is uneven, they are among the few dramas of the period to discuss important social questions.

George Colman the Elder, youngest of the professional group, produced a body of comic work more substantial than Macklin's or Garrick's and more heterogeneous than Foote's, though he backed into the theater. Until 1764 Colman expected to be a leisured gentleman, but the early death of his uncle and patron, William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, disappointed his hopes of patronage and left him to seek his own livelihood. Since several of his plays had already been successful, he chose a theatrical profession; from 1767 until his death he was usually managing either Covent Garden or the...