The Rivals at Richmond Theatre

The Rivals at Richmond Theatre

21 September, 2010
by: Tom Jeffreys

Even with such a star-studded cast, Richard Sheridan's The Rivals is still a little patchy, finds Tom Jeffreys.

There are many difficulties in attempting to stage a play like The Rivals nowadays. Those late-eighteenth-century comedies of manners, by Sheridan and Goldsmith most notably, just differ in almost every possible way from what we now generally consider to be 'good' drama: the plots are ludicrous and the characterisation often paper-thin, emotions don't really come in to it much, and – what's worse – they're often just not as funny as their bawdier Restoration progenitors.

But if they do work, then they still have the power to delight and provoke in equal measure. With a cast including Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, the Sir Peter Hall-directed production of The Rivals – currently on at Richmond Theatre – is a perfect example of both the best and the worst of Sheridan.

Set in Bath in 1775 – neatly evoked by Simon Heglett's elegant set – The Rivals is about love, and the different ways people try to deal with being in love. It's also about deception, honour, mistaken identity, social mores, generation gaps, and language.

Lydia Languish (a delightful Robyn Addison making her professional stage début) is in love with a lowly ensign, and keen to elope against the wishes of her middle-aged guardian, Mrs Malaprop (Keith). Little does Lydia realise however that the ensign is in fact Captain Jack Absolute (a blandly handsome Tam Williams) and he's only in disguise in order to pander to her idealised notions of literary romance.

The other main love interest is between Lydia's cousin Julia (an enchanting Annabel Scholey) and self-pitying, hyper-analytical misery-guts Faulkland (an entertainingly lugubrious Tony Gardner). Around these four are various servants and rivals – a sweaty Irish baronet, a cowardly country gent, a cockney rogue and a wonderfully michievous maid – and through a variety of silly plot devices it all becomes rather tangled, until a typically snappy denouement sees everyone pair off contentedly.

It's the production's two stars however that most of the audience have clearly come to see, and like the play itself, they're both a little patchy. Peter Bowles as Captain Jack's dogmatic, lecherous and pompous father is occasionally hilarious – particularly when praising or chastising Jack – but often just looks a bit tired. Meanwhile, just as she did for Margot in The Good Life, Penelope Keith brings grace and poise to the role of Mrs Malaprop, thereby creating rare sympathy for this figure of ridicule. Her comic timing is spot-on (lines like “female punctuation forbids me to say more” and “he is the very pineapple of politeness”are gold dust to an actor of Keith's calibre) but she occasionally seems unsure which of the many malapropisms to play for laughs – the blame here may be with the director for lack of clarity, or indeed with Sheridan for over-egging the pudding.

There's only really one scene that's genuinely moving, and that's when Faulkland realises his incessant analysing may have ruined his chances with Julia for ever. More than the gilded language it's the silence at this point that speaks most forcefully of humanity's ludicrous follies. As is the way with such works, the second half is when things really begin to sing. The Rivals needs pace and momentum in order to charm fully – sadly it's not quite always there.

The Rivals is at Richmond Theatre until 25th September 2010.

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Tom Jeffreys