Sometime last year I spotted a performance of Sheridan's The Rivals at the Theatre Royal in Bath. I threw caution to the wind, chose not to think of dark nights, short days, rain, wind and anything else January could throw at us, and booked tickets.
The Rivals is one of my absolute favourite plays, up there with School for Scandal and Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. I love their use of the comedy of manners and satirising of fashionable society. Both dramatists poke fun at pretensions, hypocrisy and affectation. The Rivals isn't staged very often which is why I leapt at the chance of this production by the wonderful Orange Tree Theatre. We were delighted with their production of She Stoops to Conquer a couple of years ago.
2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the first staging of The Rivals. Sheridan wrote the play whilst on his honeymoon in Bath, and he also set it in Bath. So, it seemed appropriate to see the play at the Theatre Royal 250 years later.
What a wonderful production and cast. The director, Tom Littler, set this production in 1920s Bath. There was music and dance; watching Patricia Hodge dancing the Charleston with her fellow actors was a joy to behold! We had a really enjoyable evening.
The weather behaved itself and, for January, was absolutely fine. No rain or wind, snow, fog or ice. As we drove past Tewkesbury we saw the remnants of Storm Chandra, but the drive was mainly uneventful.