The Rivals review – The stunning, thrilling revival is stylishly silly Christmas fun | stage

RRichard Brinsley Sheridan’s comedy is the perfect revival of the festive period for its crowd-pleasing mix of anarchic spirit, silliness and Mrs. Sheridan’s own word-playing Mrs. Malaprop.

Tom Littleear’s 250th anniversary production transports the upper-class antics of the 18th century play to 1920s Bath to give it a lively energy with incidental songs and a lively Charleston cast. Littler also adapted his production of She Stoops to Conquer to the interwar years, but now there are PG Wodehouse elements, more subtle but one blatant reference to Jeeves and Wooster – Jack Supreme’s servant, Fag (Pete Ashmore) is renamed Gieves.

Romance in the drama brings comedic shenanigans with Jack Absolute (Kate Young) parading the role of unassuming Sergeant Beverly in order to woo Lydia Langish (Zoe Breaux), an intelligent young woman who romanticizes impoverished life while the “flawed” Faulkland (James Sheldon) emerges from neurosis in his wavering relationship with Julia (Boadicea Ricketts). Patricia Hodge delivers misbehavior as Lydia’s domineering aunt with a questionable grasp of vocabulary. A mutiny ensues and male bravado is dispatched, all before Jack’s father, Sir Anthony Absolute (Robert Bathurst), restores the old-school order.

It’s all dizziness and froth, with a skilled cast, and Young is a particular joy to watch with his athleticism and speed. There are some bright-eyed, meta-theatrical moments and some contemporary references that slip into the period setting (one involving the TV series Traitors). Leah Harris’ movement direction is immaculately coordinated with a fast-changing set designed by Annette Black and Neil Irish.

It’s bubbly but not quite bubbly, lacking the hard, sharp kick of Sheridan’s satires of power, class and poverty. The humor remains lighthearted, not too jagged around the edges, as if it were nothing more than a game. Hodge, wearing a pink beret, plays Lady Malaprop with a comic air and plenty of swagger, but her version of the character lacks punch, and her romantic dysfunction with Lucius Outrigger (Colm Gormley) doesn’t land in her pathos. This is a long play, and it slows down at times. However, it glides on easily and feels very enjoyable as a whole; Stylishly silly, fun Christmas and japes.