Animal Magnetism: A Farce
by Elizabeth Inchbald
The Haymarket
Thu 2 October 2008, 8.30pm
A dilapidated Doctor with a high mortality rate amongst his patients is guardian to his charming niece, Constance. Locked away from the public gaze in order to keep her for himself, Constance falls from afar for the handsome Marquis de Lancy, who hatches a ludicrous plan to liberate her and unmask the dangerous medical practices of the Doctor.
Inchbald’s pen, dipped in equal amounts of wit and bile, targets medical quackery and complacently outmoded attitudes to women.