The Rivals at Orange Tree Theatre is a 1920s-set, stylishly silly revival

Tom Littler’s 250th‑anniversary production of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals at the Orange Tree Theatre in London transposes the 18th‑century comedy to 1920s Bath, giving the play a flapperish energy with occasional song and an exuberant Charlestoning cast. The production leans into PG Wodehouse elements, including a direct nod to Jeeves and Wooster by renaming Jack Absolute’s manservant from Fag to Gieves (Pete Ashmore).

Kit Young plays Jack Absolute, who poses as Sergeant Beverley to woo Lydia Languish (Zoe Brough); James Sheldon is the neurotic "Faulty" Faulkland opposite Boadicea Ricketts’s Julia. Patricia Hodge supplies the play’s malapropisms as Lydia’s imperious aunt, with Robert Bathurst as Sir Anthony Absolute and Colm Gormley as Lucius O’Trigger.

Leah Harris’s movement direction is tightly coordinated with a fast‑changing set by Anett Black and Neil Irish, and a few contemporary references — one involving the TV series Traitors — slip into the period setting. The review notes strong comic giddiness and a capable cast, with Young singled out for his physicality and speed, but says the production lacks the hard, sharp kick of Sheridan’s satire on power, class and poverty.

Hodge’s Mrs Malaprop is breezy and haughty but described as missing distinctive elements, and the long play slackens at times.

Key Topics

Culture, The Rivals, Orange Tree Theatre, Tom Littler, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Kit Young