The School for Scandal
November 1995
by Brinsley Sheridan, directed by Robert Hole
Cast: Lady Sneerwell - Maggie Butt Snake - Gordon Halliday Butler to Lady Sneerwell - Chris Williams Joseph Surface - Mike Carter Moses - Phil Attard Gentleman - Rob Hole Maria - Kate Onyett Mrs Candour - Mary Jones Crabtree - Nick Jones Sir Benjamin Backbite - Jonathan Blackwell Sir Peter Teasel - Peter King Rowley - Brian Bowker Lady Teazle - Rose Gander Maid to Sir Peter - Wendy Gander Sir Oliver Surface - John Marshall Charles Surface - Mike Edwards Careless - Cass Thorne Sir Harry Bumper - John Spree Trip - Stewart Price William - Ben Grimshaw | Production Team: Director - Robert Hole Stage Manager - Holly Shakespeare & Brian Bowker Lights - Barry Matthews Sound - John Lake Production Manager - Keith Palmer Front of House - Jean Halliday & Team |
Reviews:
From Estuary News:
... the play is as timely now as when it was first produced...
Estuary Players' next production is Sheridan's School for Scandal, one of the great classic English comedies. It will be staged in the Matthews Hall on Thursday 30 November, Friday 1 December and Saturday 2 December. A large and talented cast has been assembled and rehearsals are already underway, under the capable leadership of director Robert Hole, whose first production this is for the company. The cast includes many familiar faces from past productions, but we are also delighted to welcome Mike Carter, Mike Edwards, Wendy Gander and Chris Williams in their first appearances with Estuary Players.
We also welcome Phil Attard and Kate Onyett, who were to have made their debut in the cancelled performance of 'The Diary of Anne Frank' and who join us for this production.
The School for Scandal was first produced at Drury Lane Theatre in 1771. This production is set in the London of the 1990s, somewhere between the Houses of Parliament and the City of London, amidst the fashionable society of city brokers and members of Parliament. Sleaze and scandal are in the air, as two brothers vie for the affection and the fortune of a young heiress, an old back-bench MP tries to cope with his fashionable young wife, and the gossip-mongers have a wonderful time, at the expense of everyones reputation.
With a cast of 20, the play has an array of fine parts and richly funny cameos.
Sheridan's brilliant humour still sparkles and the social criticism and satire are given a
sharper edge by setting the play in the present day. Sheridan was a young man of 26 when he
wrote The School for Scandal. It was not only an acutely observed comedy of
manners but also a savage satire on the pretensions of fashionable society and the greed of
financiers. Little seems to have changed after 200 odd years and the play is as timely now
as when it was first produced.
