SOME might say Mrs Malaprop and her comical gift for using the wrong word, yet still imparting exactly what she means, has ensured The Rivals' longevity.

Settlement Players director Graham Sanderson, however, sees within its web of schemes and deceits a "depiction of a selfie society not so different from our own, wherein the wealthy and their servants alike are passionate about appearance and style".

Sanderson read Sheridan's 1775 comedy of manners in his student days, finding it "witty but a bit wordy and contrived". He's not wrong in his "wordy and contrived" critique, and his production still clocks in at only 15 minutes shy of three hours, but he is true to his word of promising a fast-moving comic romp for a story that spans only a single day.

Quick scene changes with a minimum of furniture – two chairs, two tables – aid this wish and the music that precedes each half is suitably brisk in its mood-setting.

Jill Maris's design of two drapes of a peacock with its feathers in full fan mirror the preening and high fashions of Sheridan's players, whose costumes are fabulously flamboyant and OTT, courtesy of Helen Taylor.

Sanderson has cast a typically strong Settlement team for the character-driven comic mayhem of "plots being laid and uncovered, relationships strained and disrupted and poses adopted and abandoned": the stuff of anguish, confusion and exasperation, conducted with rapid repartee and games of wit.

The Studio setting demands the acting should be reined in a little, even Mike Hickman's Bob Acres with his absurd fluffy hair, to avoid caricature and all succeed in this route to truthfulness amid so much deception. Jamie McKeller's trick-playing Jack Absolute – regularly engaging in conspiratorial direct address with the audience – tangles to good effect with Jessica Murray's enraged Lydia Languish; Sue Skirrow's Mrs Malaprop swishes her way through her malapropisms; Simon Tompsett makes a welcome return to the boards with an impeccably Irish Sir Lucius O'Trigger and Sonia Di Lorenzo is a scene-stealing Lucy.

The small and tall show of Matthew Pattison's vexatious Faulkland and Catherine Edge's righteous Julia works well too, and Sanderson relishes every moment of Sir Anthony Absolute's absolute rigidity after taking on the role late into rehearsals. His production focuses on foolishness and frailty, foppery and fate for The Rivals to be serious, furious and humorous all at once.

The Rivals, York Settlement Community Players, The Studio, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.45pm; tomorrow, 2pm and 7.45pm; Tuesday to Friday, 7.45pm; next Saturday, 2pm and 7.45pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk