author
John Poole
d. 1872
Best known for the hit farce Paul Pry, this English playwright helped make comic drama a sensation in the early 19th century. His lively stage work mixed satire, burlesque, and sharp theatrical wit.
1 Audiobook
The Scape-Goat: A Farce in One Act
by John Poole
About the author
Born around 1786 and dying in London on February 5, 1872, John Poole was an English playwright and miscellaneous author remembered as one of the early popular writers of comic drama and farce.
His best-known work is Paul Pry (1825), a hugely successful farce whose title character became especially famous. He was also known for Hamlet Travestie (1810), a burlesque parody that is often noted as an early Shakespeare spoof on the English stage.
Alongside his plays, Poole wrote prose fiction, including novels such as Oddities of London Life, Little Pedlington and the Pedlingtonians, and Phineas Quiddy. Today he is mainly remembered for the bright, theatrical humor that made him a recognizable name in 19th-century popular entertainment.