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Susanna Centlivre
1666–1723
A lively force in Restoration and early 18th-century theatre, this English playwright was known for sharp comedies that mixed romance, satire, and a keen eye for social manners. Her plays were widely performed in London, and works like The Busy Body helped secure her place as one of the era’s most successful women dramatists.
3 Audiobooks
The Busie Body
by Susanna Centlivre
The Stolen Heiress; or, The Salamanca Doctor Outplotted. A Comedy
by Susanna Centlivre
The Perjur'd Husband; or, The Adventures of Venice. A Tragedy
by Susanna Centlivre
About the author
Born in England around 1666 and dying in 1723, Susanna Centlivre built a remarkable career on the London stage as a playwright, actor, and poet. Reliable reference sources describe her as one of the most popular comic dramatists of the early 1700s, admired for energetic plots and witty dialogue.
Her best-known plays include The Busy Body, A Bold Stroke for a Wife, and The Wonder: A Woman Keeps a Secret. These works blend farce, disguise, romance, and social observation, and they remained popular well beyond her lifetime.
Centlivre’s success was especially notable in a literary world dominated by men. Today she is remembered as an important figure in English theatre, with a gift for writing entertaining comedies that still show her intelligence, confidence, and feeling for the stage.