Malvern Festival Theatre
SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL (Royal Theatre Bath Productions)
Choosing to sit in a darkened room for a couple of hours on
one of the few, truly beautiful, summer’s evenings this year is quite an ask
for even the most loyal theatre goer. However, the considerable audience
gathered on the Malvern Theatres terrace, in the glorious Winter Gardens, for
pre-show drinks before enjoying the delectations on offer, was a clear accolade
of the guaranteed quality of a Theatre Royal Bath production. Those sacrificing
the sunshine were, yet again, rewarded with a wonderful evening of exquisite
entertainment.
An all-star cast, including Maggie Steed and Ian McNeice, presents
Sheriden’s classic, School For Scandal, an 18th century farcical
exploration of the scandalous debauchery among the elitists of the time. Although
the start of the play is incredibly wordy and overloaded with information on a
multitude of individuals, some of whom we meet and many whom we don’t, it is
eloquently delivered by Stuart Ellis and Serena Evans in the respective roles
of Snake and Lady Sneerwell. The verbal confusion continues with additional
tales from fellow gossipmongers, including the flamboyantly outrageous Crabtree
and Sir Benjamin Backbite, perfectly portrayed by David Killick and Grant
Gillespie. Edward Bennett is outstanding as Joseph Surface, delivering a
magnificent vocal and physical performance throughout, beautifully matched by
Susannah Fielding’s tour-de-force, Lady Teazle. It was a pleasure to see Nigel
Harman again, after his award winning performance as Lord Farquaad in the West
End’s Shrek – The Musical and John Conroy must be commended on his attention to
detail with period movement in his role as Rowley. This is a real ensemble
piece and the double casting utilises this talented cast to it’s fullest.
Despite some dubious ‘up’ staging decisions made by director
Jamie Lloyd, which seems to be a tragically current directing fashion, he must
be congratulated on some superb creative genius with the comical ‘screen’ scene
and most magnificent ‘portrait auction’. Literally breathtaking! Soutra
Gilmour’s set was suitably adaptable and proved a stark backdrop for the
colourful characters adorning it. Everyone involved with this production must
be congratulated.
This play is undoubtedly the forerunner to “Real Housewives” and “The
Only Way Is Essex” proving that little has changed in the last three hundred
years. School For Scandal runs until Saturday.
