London: S. Bladon, 1783

Sterne has consistently been associated with humour. Whilst for some readers this involves bawdy innuendo and provocative jokes, others have enjoyed the warmth towards all the faults and foibles of humanity captured in the eccentric members of the Shandy family. An increasing appreciation of the benefits of sociability and fellow feeling in the middle decades of the eighteenth century gave a new space for appreciating the model of ‘good humour’ Sterne provides in Tristram Shandy, which combines witty jests with gentle laughter at the many oddities of characters such as Uncle Toby and Corporal Trim. These twinned qualities emerge in a two-act farce based on Tristram Shandy written by Leonard MacNally, which was staged at Covent Garden in 1783-84. Its subtitle, ‘A sentimental, Shandean bagatelle’ displays the complementary qualities of good humour and pathos that readers increasingly associated with Sterne. MacNally’s play also displays how far Tristram Shandy was still considered sufficiently familiar and versatile for an adaptation to be brought into an arena so readily responsive to popular taste, the Georgian stage.