240 years after it was first performed, Arcola Theatre is delighted to present The Rivals in a new production directed by Selina Cadell, in Studio 1 from Wednesday 15 October (press night Tuesday 21 October at 7.30pm). On sale now.
The Rivals, written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in 1775, is possibly the best known and loved of all the Restoration Comedies.
When Town meets Country in the summer streets of Bath, Society begins to play. The stakes are Money, Reputation and Inheritance. Amidst frolic and deceit, we discover secret assignations and disguises, resulting in duels, duplicities, misunderstandings and misalliances. And the much-admired Lydia Languish – our heroine - is at the centre of it all while her Aunt, the infamous Mrs. Malaprop, adds gloriously to the confusion with her hilarious and nonsensical misuse of words.
