The Contrast
by Royall Tyler, Steve Brown, Anthony Stimac, Don Pippin

In the first American comedy, written by Royall Tyler in 1787 and supposedly inspired by School for Scandal , the contrast is between Americans who decked themselves in powdered wigs and the land's more rough-and-ready countrymen.

Is America to cultivate its own customs and manners, or is it to follow the fashions of Europe?

The play contrasts Sheridan's fops with robust and honest Americans, and includes the role of the servant Jonathan, which would define the American comic image on the stage for many years.