Review: The School for Scandal, Theatre by the Lake

“…it is all really rather jolly fun”

The School for Scandal by Richard B Sheridan, Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

by Ken Powell

The season starts in earnest for Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake (TBTL) with a reworking of Sheridan’s farcical 18th century play, The School for Scandal. Produced by Tilted Wig and Malvern Theatres, a team of eight talented actors play fifteen roles between them to give the audience laughs-a-plenty for over two hours.

Following the well-established tradition often used with Shakespearean plays of changing the setting to another time period, Tilted Wig have placed this play firmly in the 1950s, complete with telephones of that time (and beyond – I remember them well!) and the very fashionable dress too. That post-war time of emancipated gossip, yet still hanging on to Victorian morals, is the ideal setting for Sheridan’s scandalous story all about scandal.

The plot is typically complicated. Sir Peter Teazle (Joseph Marcell) seriously regrets his marriage to the very young Lady Teazle (Lydea Perkins) who has got in with the telltales such as Lady Sneerwell (Emily-Jane McNeill) and Crabtree (Tony Timberlake) who delight in nothing more than spreading rumours of scandal and destroying reputations on the way. Centre of focus are two brothers – Joseph (Alex Phelps) and Charles (Garmon Rhys) – one of whom is a rogue and the other the epitome of goodness. But all is not as it seems. Their uncle, Sir Oliver (also played by Tony Timberlake), newly returned after many years away, hatches a plan with his friend, Sir Peter Teazle, to see which of the brothers is the better man.

As you might imagine, the result is hilarious and very silly, but in the best possible way. Tilted Wig, in their programme notes, make the legitimate connection of the turmoil England was facing at the time of first production after America declared independence. Sheridan tries to recapture the spirit of the restoration period to bring much-needed fun back into British lives. Likewise, today, post-Brexit and post-Covid as we are, it can be argued we could do with that fun all over again.

Fun it is too – at least once you get used to the language and the relatively long back story parts. The first half is amusing but does seem to spend quite some time setting up the gags to come. It is worth it for the second half, which really is very funny indeed and with a much swifter pace.

The actors are wonderfully comic with superb facial expressions that make even the most difficult parts of the language very intelligible. Alex Phelps and Garmon Rhys are particularly good at this when playing the brothers. Extra points for Rhys too for playing two characters so very differently that it was the second half before I realised both were played by him. At times, there are a whirl of characters on the stage that’s quite bedazzling but it is all really rather jolly fun – which is exactly the idea.

Not everything works. Generally, the music clashed with the 50s setting and the audience tolerated the entirely superfluous dance that concludes the show before resuming their thunderous applause for the fun. I’m sure it is there for stylistic reasons but it somewhat dampens the enthusiasm to be honest.

Nevertheless, this was a fun start to the season for TBTL. The School for Scandal may not be a classic but it is a cracking warm up for what, I hope, will be a great year ahead.

The School for Scandal is showing at Theatre by the Lake until Saturday 16 March 2024. To find out more call the Box Office on 017687 74411 or visit www.theatrebythelake.com.