Stage Review THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL

TARA TIJANI (LADY TEAZLE) AND STEFAN ADEGBOLA (JOSEPH SURFACE) 
 THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL (SUMMER 2024)
AT
THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE, STRATFORD UPON AVON
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARC BRENNER

⭐⭐⭐

A classic by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) written during the Restoration Period of English history, The School For Scandal premiered at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 08 May 1777.

Performances at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre this summer are running alongside Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor with the same cast members performing in both plays (with exceptions):

'[...] The vicious Lady Sneerwell enjoys ruining reputations for pleasure and her latest target is the young bachelor Charles Surface — why should this pretentious little rake inherit his uncle’s fortune? Together with Charles’ conniving brother Joseph, Sneerwell orchestrates an elaborate scheme of intrigue and infidelity that’s sure to ruffle all the right feathers — hopefully' RSC (July 2024)

A Georgian tale: a time when trading in the East Indies was growing the British Empire abroad and aristocrats were displaying their wealth in fashionable London. The characters are the subject of intrigue within the close company that they keep and the wider society, with agenda driven individuals doing their best (or worst) to damage reputation.

With gossip and newspaper reporting at the heart, stories are the result of fabricated journalism reporting sensationalised stories about this wealthy set and their scandalous activities. There was a thirst back then, as there has subsequently been, for moulding public opinion often formed on leaked or skewed facts.

Whether conclusive or not the plot exposes main characters as being hypocrites, cheats, egotistic or entitled for satirical effect and the story includes redemption and reconciliation for characters too, so the content is extremely Shakespearean-like.

Negative comment
the comedy aspects of the script and of performance raised little more than knowing smiles as a response from the audience for the best part. The speech intonation/rhythm adopted by some performers grates after a while. 

Positive comment
this is a sophisticated production and an important play in terms of period and English theatre history. The players work wonders with mountainous dialogue that is so well phrased. 

Last but by no means least the staging and costumes are an absolute triumph; a pink-loaded fest!

Pictured: Cast members of RSC's The School For Scandal
wearing their elaborate costumes
Photograph by Marc Brenner

At The Royal Shakespeare Theatre until 06 September, 2024.

**ENDS**

Review by theatre critic, Debra Hall who attended the performance of The School For Scandal at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre on Friday 09 August, 7.15pm

References

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) FIRST LOOK: PRODUCTION IMAGES FROM THE RSC’S THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL Press Release 08 July 2024


The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) printed programme THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL

Hall, D. The RSC's The Merry Wives of Windsor Review
https://notcompulsory.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-rscs-merry-wives-of-windsor-review.html 19 July 2024

Scull, O. New behind the scenes images of RSC's The School for Scandal - the journey of a costume RSC 24 July 2024


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