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:

Nancy Groves - 18 January 2010

Caprice. It’s not a word much in use nowadays, unless you’re an underwear model hoping to lend class to an otherwise tawdry career. But in Sheridan’s The Rivals, enjoying a much-publicised revival at the Southwark Playhouse this month, it just keeps cropping up. Caprice, that is, though there’s some fairly impressive décolletage on display, too.

The quintessential post-Shakespearian comedy of errors, Sheridan’s play has it all, save the cross-dressing: saucy servants, parental pleas, misdelivered letters, a hopelessly handsome hero and heroine, even a dual – albeit at tea-time, not dawn. It also, here, has Celia Imrie (on whom pre-show publicity has focused) as match-maker and infamous mistress of language Mrs Malaprop.

The casting is a coup for Southwark while potentially suggesting a traditional approach to the text. Not a bit of it. Director Jessica Swale signals her fresh agenda from the ge...

Read more of the review

Latest User Review

Glen - 21 January 2010:

Agree - while perhaps sold out on some star casting it is perhaps the younger company members who steal the show. Do take a cushion though - Southwark Playhouse bench seating a bit numbing!...

Read more and add your own review

Related Whatsonstage.com Articles

Brief Encounter With ... Ella Smith More»