The Rivals: a ‘lively’ retelling of the 18th-century comedy

Director Tom Littler brings a “sparkier” version of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s first play to life at the Orange Tree in Richmond, southwest London, said Heather Neill on The Arts Desk. With the “ever-elegant” Patricia Hodge taking on the role of Mrs Malaprop and the “skipping pace” of this rendition, there is “never a dull moment”.

Instead of the original story’s 1775 set-up, Littler takes the action to 1927. This updated setting allows for references to “cars and a telephone box” and also lets set designers Anett Black and Neil Irish conjure a “fantasy Twenties world” with “attractive gilded art deco friezes and colourful period costumes”.

Littler has “successfully married old and new” in this “craftily edited rejig”, said Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph. The story follows Jack Absolute (Kit Young), who tries to woo Lydia in the guise of the “lowly sergeant Beverley to indulge her sentimental ideas about poverty”. His false identity paves the way for “spiralling confusions”.

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The “slick and colourful” revival is a “more faithful update” than other adaptations, said Dominic Maxwell in The Times. The show is elevated by “savvy comic performances that largely stop short of caricature”. Robert Bathurst presents a “robust, unselfish” Sir Anthony Absolute, while Zoe Brough as Lydia Languish and Boadicea Ricketts as Julia Melville deliver performances that are “very now without feeling laboured”.

Sheridan’s work had a “sharp satirical bite” at the time, said Dave Fargnoli on The Stage, but the “social comedy” doesn’t hold as much weight today. Still, Littler makes up for it by “leaning into the farcical plot” and “amping up the silliness” with extra gags. With its “colourful costumes” and “Charleston-style choreography”, “The Rivals” is a “thoroughly entertaining” spectacle that makes for a “lively” evening.

At the Orange Tree Theatre, London, until 24 January, then Theatre Royal Bath (27-31 January) and The Arts Theatre, Cambridge (3-7 February).