Graham Sanderson taps into the original "selfie society" in Sheridan's The Rivals

Now, York Settlement Community Players are celebrating the reopening of the redeveloped Theatre Royal by reviving Sheridan's first play with its depiction of a ‘selfie’ society not so different from our own, wherein the wealthy and their servants alike are passionate about appearance and style.

Rehearsals have been taking place since September 18 for the fast-moving comic romp's November 16 to 26 run in Theatre Royal Studio with its story of Captain Jack Absolute, Lydia Languish, Mrs Malaprop and Sir Lucius O’Trigger becoming entangled in a web of schemes and deceits.

Enjoying the chance to mount The Rivals, director Graham Sanderson says: "I have only a very hazy memory of ever seeing The Rivals performed; I do remember reading it as a student and thinking it witty, but a bit wordy and contrived. Re-reading it, however, having decided to think about putting myself forward to direct it, I discovered that the play has much more to it.

"In the first place, it's really skilfully made: a single day in which plots are laid and uncovered, relationships strained and disrupted, fancies and poses adopted, undermined and ultimately abandoned by characters who have come to know themselves and others better.

"Scenes often begin in the middle of a conversation or with action already under way. Characters are confidently and clearly drawn. There is wit and humour in the wordplay, but the underlying comedy is that of character and situation. That's what drives the play. Our production aims to play the characters as real people so that we can laugh at their pretensions and misfortunes, but never dismiss them as grotesques or caricatures."

Jamie McKeller, as Jack Absolute, in rehearsal for York Settlement Community Players' production of The Rivals.Picture: Michael J Oakes

Deceit is central to the play's comedy. "Characters deceive themselves: Lydia Languish, Bob Acres, Mrs Malaprop; or they deceive others: Jack Absolute, Faulkland, Lucy – and the embarrassment and confusion that happens on stage as the deceits unravel is very funny, and made all the funnier if we feel for their anguish because we've seen and been invited to share their humanity," says Graham.

He draws attention to another motor in Sheridan's play: "the anger that the victims feel when they realise they have been misled". "Lydia's fury, when she discovers the trick that has been played on her, utterly destroys the false notions of romance that have underpinned her deception," he says.

"Julia's righteous annihilation of Faulkland, when his self doubt makes him go too far in devising schemes to test her love, reduces him to despair. Cleverness cannot mend the wounds that trickery inflicts. Only the willingness of the victims to forgive can save the day."

Graham has not seen fit to tamper overtly with Sheridan's 18th century setting, given the comedy's resonance with modern times. "The Rivals is set in an era in which even those on the fringes of polite society are much concerned with their appearance and how others see them and think of them: a 'selfie' society over 200 years before our own," he notes.

"The play is a comedy, but the humour arises not from larger-than life caricatures but from people whose human frailty we can all recognise; people who manage through foolishness or by twists of fate and fortune to get themselves into absurd situations. Like all good comedy, it flirts with potential disasters and tragedies."

Taking this point further, Graham says: "Productions can sometimes brilliantly illuminate and refresh familiar plays by transposing them to a different time or setting from the original, but I didn't feel that this was the case here. On the other hand, I wanted to avoid a staging that cast the play as a period piece in a gilded case. So the setting is created by emblematic screens, not representations of place or time, and the costumes are 18th century in style, but with more modern elements too.

"We use a minimum of furniture, and scene changes are designed to overlap the flow of action; lighting levels stay up as scenes shift. In this play, characters offer asides to the audience that remind them that it is just that – a play. In a large theatre, especially one of a traditional design, those asides, while often witty and occasionally funny, appear only as dramatic flourishes. In this production, in the intimate setting of the Theatre Royal Studio, they can engage members of the audience directly and make them part of the comedy. Today, played for comedy, rather than cleverness, The Rivals is still very funny."

York Settlement Community Players present The Rivals at The Studio, York Theatre Royal, November 16 to 19 and 22 to 26, 7.45pm and Saturday matinees at 2pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Graham Sanderson: director and now cast member too

DIRECTOR Graham Sanderson is stepping into the breach to take over the role of Sir Anthony Absolute in the Settlement Players production.

"Philip Massey had to withdraw from the cast for health reasons last week, so I’m standing in as Sir Anthony Absolute, which is  interesting but terrifying - and learning lines is taking a lot of time!" said Graham, when notifying The Press last Saturday.