A raucous comedy featuring tricks and mistaken identities is being performed by Penrith Players over a four-night run starting at the town’s Playhouse on Wednesday.
The Rivals, written in 1775 by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, revolves around the character of Jack Absolute — a soldier who is engaged in a romantic relationship with Lydia Languish under a false identity.
The problem is that Lydia has read lots of romantic fiction which has given her a very specific idea of what she wants in a man. In short, she wants to marry for love, rather than have an arranged marriage forced upon her.
With Jack Absolute pretending to be something he is not, his fictional counterpart, Ensign Beverley ends up in a series of rivalries with a range of other men all vying for Lydia’s hand in marriage.
It all comes together at the end with a big intended fight, with swords being drawn, on the outskirts of Bath.
Director James Hurrel said: “During lockdown we did a lot of play readings online with Penrith Players members and The Rivals was one that went down really well with people. We really enjoyed reading it — it had loads of energy and humour — and we thought it would be a good one to put on stage.”
James said it was a play he was relatively familiar with, having produced a version of it when he was at university.
“One of the great things about it for a local theatre group is that every single character, no matter how small they are, has a genuine personality — they all have some great comic lines — it is a proper ensemble piece. There is something for everyone to get their teeth into,” said James.
The play features a number of malapropisms — a phrase named after the character of Mrs Malaprop in the play.
James, who has been teaching English at Keswick School for nine years, explained: “A malapropism is where somebody uses the wrong word — a word that might sound like the word they intended, but it is the wrong word and therefore gives it a different meaning.
“Sheridan has a lot of fun with this character (Mrs Malaprop). I have to say, as a cast, we can’t always work out what Mrs Malaprop is supposed to be saying in the first place, but it is great fun. It is a real challenge for the actress learning the lines, because they are having to learn deliberately wrong lines.”
Having acted in and taken the lead role in a number of plays for Penrith Players, including that of Francis Henshall in the hit show One Man, Two Guvnors, this is James’ directorial debut.
“Directing for the first time has really given me the chance to see how many people are involved in the process of putting on a play,” he said.
“I think it is just such a fantastic thing — we get to work together to put on this thing which we can then share with other people in the community. It is a real privilege to be able to do it.”
