The Rivals

Synopsis

Restoration comedy about social morals and hypocrisy. Mrs Malaprop, the infamous Queen of the Dictionary, is horrified. Her niece, the rich and beautiful Lydia Languish, is in love and wants to marry the penniless Ensign Beverley. Outraged, Mrs Malaprop demands that Lydia marry the eligible and dashing Captain Absolute who has arrived in Bath to court her. Little do they both know that the Ensign and the Captain are one and the same man...What follows is a delightful tangle of romance, fury and deception, making The Rivals one of the funniest and best loved comedies in the English language.

Our Review:

Anne Morley-Priestman - 28 February 2011

You probably know the phrase “director’s theatre”. It can describe a personal attitude to a particular work which so illuminates it that the audience is left wondering why no-one had ever staged it in quite this way before – and will never regard other productions as quite so thought-provoking and completely satisfying.

Director’s theatre can also be a term of reproach. That's not completely true fas far as Gari Jones’ production of Sheridan’s The Rivals for the Mercury Theatre is concerned, but there are moment’s when it comes perilously close. Granted that Sheridan’s characters are in many way social and stage “types”; their names tell you that – Absolute, Acres, Languish, O’Trigger – but there are human beings underneath all the surface froth and formulaic satire.

These people do emerge from time to time and it is telling that the subsidiary characters are the ones who make...

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Latest User Review

mrs B - 11 March 2011:

the acting was great but thats all. we could not understand it and left at half time along with many others....

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