Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 18th-century comedies of manners, with their stiletto-sharp portraits of backbiting socialites and moneygrubbing scoundrels, still resonate today. Idle Muse Theatre Company’s revival of 1777’s The School for Scandal, adapted and directed by Evan Jackson, adds some contemporary flair with reworked versions of hits by David Bowie and Queen, but while they make for fun interludes to listen to during scene changes, you don’t really need to do much to update this material, which feels like a Real Housewives spin-off for the Georgian era.
The School for Scandal
Through 4/12: Thu–Sat 8 PM, Sun 3 PM; also Wed 4/9 8 PM; the Edge Off Broadway, 1133 W. Catalpa, 773-340-9438, idlemuse.org, $30 ($20 students/seniors)
As someone who hadn’t read the play in a while, it did take me a few minutes to sort out the various intrigues and backstories as delivered in the first scene by Elise Soeder’s catty and aptly named Lady Sneerwell. It’s folly to try to synopsize the dizzying story, but it basically boils down to which of the two brothers will win the hand of the virtuous Maria (Cat Evans)—posturing hypocrite Joseph Surface (Eric Duhon), or Charles (Brian Healy), who’s an unapologetic party animal. Along the way, we meet Lady Teazle (a delicious Caty Gordon), the newly arrived much younger wife to Maria’s guardian, Sir Peter (Erik Schnitger), who aspires to join Lady Sneerwell’s band of Mean Girls and Boys. The unexpected arrival of Joseph and Charles’s wealthy uncle Sir Oliver (Ross Compton), who has been pursuing his fortunes in the North American colonies, unspools an increasingly complicated series of assignations.
The cast commits to the caricatures without becoming too big for the small space. There’s a particularly delightful interlude where they assume the postures of Sir Oliver’s ancestors, posing behind empty picture frames to embody all the musty forebears one sees hanging in manor houses in every film about British aristocracy. Some moments perhaps milk the comedy a beat or two longer than necessary, but even then, the eye-candy costumes and wigs by Victoria Jablonski give you plenty to look at.
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