School for Scandal at Theatre by the Lake Keswick Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Jo Hardy

School for Scandal is a 18th century classic comedy written by Richard Brinkley Sheridan and first performed on stage at the Drury Lane theatre London in 1777, it’s a rather camp comedy that pokes fun at the upper class.

When I entered the auditorium and saw the set I could see by the three telephones set on pedestals that this was going to be a modernised production and not set in the period style I had imagined.

For the first twenty minutes or so I struggled to follow the story, there were so many people to get to know, lots of words in old English which took me a while to get into, but all the characters were so colourful and engaging they soon drew me in, and I’m pleased they did. Gossiping can be so much fun.

I was rewarded with some amazing acting and many laugh out loud moments, the whole cast were fabulous and I particularly enjoyed Lydia Perkins who’s portrayal of Lady Teazle was wonderful, she said so much with just a slight tilt of her head and a look in her eye and her Mrs Candour was hilarious. Another stand out performance was by Alex Phelps his comic timing was spot on and reminded me a lot of Basil Faulty.

I loved the costumes all in a 1950’s style and in a beautiful colour palette of dusky pinks, orange and turquoise that went perfectly with the pink stage backdrop. There weren’t a lot of props in this production, it was all about the words and the acting and that was enough.

I never like to give too much of the story away in a review but basically Sir Peter Teazle thinks that his young wife is having an affair, his wife thinks as she’s being accused of something she may as well do it, the gossip takes over but Sir Peter finds out the truth in the end.

A normal part of human behaviour, gossiping has never gone out of fashion.

The first part of the show was maybe slightly too long, I was ready for the interval but the second part flew by as it was full of fun and laughter, and the dance that the whole cast did after the curtain call was a real treat, and nice to see they don’t take themselves too seriously.

This is one of the few shows I’ve seen that I could go back tomorrow and watch again, there’s so much in it I feel I may have missed some things.

Produced by Tilted Wig and Malvern Theatres, this production starts in Keswick and then tours the country throughout the spring ending in Oxford at the beginning of June.
The full list of dates and venues can be found on tiltedwigproductions.com

School for Scandal in showing at Theatre by the Lake from Thursday 7th March to Saturday 16th March, the show lasts 2 hours 15 minutes with a 20 minute interval, suitable for ages 12 and over tickets priced from £12 are available from the theatre website theatrebythelake.com

Rating: 4/5

https://www.theatrebythelake.com/event/the-school-for-scandal/