Shakespeare Theatre Company Literary Associate Akiva Fox discusses the historical context of restoration comedy and the place of William Congeve's The Way of the World within the genre.

Director Michael Kahn discusses his production of William Congreve's The Way of the World.  Featuring witty repartee in the grand tradition of The Country Wife and The Beaux' Stratagem, Congreve's delicious comedy of manners sends up courtship and marriage. Amid the gossip and frivolous love affairs of fashionable London society, the clever and conniving lovers Millamant and Mirabell are determined to pursue "a marriage of true minds." But Millamant's jealous guardian stands in their way. The only way to achieve their goal is to beat the fops, the fools and the resentful rivals at their own game—through double-dealing and outrageous deception.  The productions runs September 30 to November 16, 2008, in the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th St. NW).