Identifying the Satire on Restoration Drama

Restoration drama refers to English plays produced during the Restoration period (1660-1700). Playwrights like John Dryden and Thomas Otway were prominent figures. The question asks to identify the play that specifically parodies or mocks the conventions and style of this dramatic era.

Analysis of Options

• The Beggar's Opera by John Gay: While satirical of society and politics, it's primarily a ballad opera and doesn't focus on mocking the specific dramatic style of Dryden or Otway.
• Tom Thumb by Henry Fielding: This is a burlesque that satirizes heroic tragedy, a genre popular during the Restoration, but it's a specific parody rather than a broad mockery of the entire Restoration drama style.
• The Critic by R.B. Sheridan: Written much later (1779), this play satirizes contemporary theatre practices and dramatic critics, not the core style of Restoration drama itself.
• The Rehearsal by George Villiers: This play is a direct and famous satire of the heroic drama popular in the Restoration period. It specifically targets the dramatic conventions, plots, and language seen in the works of playwrights like Dryden, effectively mocking them through a play-within-a-play structure.

Therefore, The Rehearsal is the play that most directly plays mock the Restoration drama of Dryden and Thomas Otway.