The leadership of the RSC have, for many years now, felt the need to update classic plays to attract a younger audience but looking around the auditorium of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford upon Avon for their latest production of The School for Scandal, it would appear to be the usual, more mature demographic who make the pilgrimage to this lovely venue. This reimagining of Richard Sheridan’s wonderful satire on the society of the time in 1777, appears to spoon feed the audience in an obvious fashion, drawing parallels with modern obsession with celebrity gossip and fake news accusations, rather than enjoying the play as it was intended, drawing their own conclusions on its continued relevance today.

Played in repertory with a similarly updated version of Merry Wives of Windsor with seventeen of the cast the same (fifteen of them making their RSC debuts in the pairing), it is only Geoffrey Streatfield as Sir Peter Teazle and Stefan Adegbola as Joseph Surface who are added to the Merry Wives cast. There is a sense that the production needed a few slightly more experienced heads on how to play the RSC’s thrust stage where subtlety and nuance is deployed in the delivery. Instead, every line is delivered with a grimace, sneer or glance into the audience as a cue for an expected laugh.

Set in the homes of Sneerwell, Teazle and the two Surface brothers, signified by large projected letters across the back wall, the first act feels a little laboured, making two simple sub plots seem complex and hard to follow. Sir Peter Teazle is frustrated by his young wife’s extravagance and regrets marriage. Sir Oliver Surface (Wil Johnson) is returning from his travels and must decide who to pass his wealth on to, Charles (John Leader) or Joseph. Meanwhile, a host of other characters and servants observe, gossip and make fake news about everybody.

We last saw this play in 1990 at the National Theatre with Denis Quilley and Jane Asher and have fond memories of its clever parody and societal observation. Tinuke Craig’s pink version only allows Sheridan’s original play to shine through in the wonderful farce of the second act as Lady Teazle (Tara Tijani) is discovered by her husband hiding behind a screen at Joseph Surface’s house. The rewrites, which are designed to point the obvious modern parallels, are somewhat clunky and filled with jarring woke references.

Sumptuously costumed by Alex Lowde in a limited palate of pink, champagne and black, it looks like a modern-day fancy-dress party. It is intriguing to speculate, as our minds wondered, what the colour choice denoted. Sir Peter starts in black and ends in pink, and Lady Sneerwell starts in pink and ends in black. Entrances through the floor traps (which, in this production, denote doors) are posed as if in a bizarre Fashion week catwalk.

Richard Sheridan’s play has been around for nearly 250 years and its themes of gossipy reporting, fascination with salacious behaviour and the lives of the wealthier classes remain as relevant today as when he wrote it. It does have a happy tying up of the loose ends and the comeuppance of the gossips, which perhaps we don’t see enough of today with social influencers, fake news merchants and con men seemingly wielding too much influence over our lives, but as regular theatregoers, we don’t need to be spoon fed the parallels. Drama is best when it concentrates on telling a narrative, adds a touch of magical theatricality and transports us to another world, leaving us to reflect and draw our own conclusions.

*** Three stars

Reviewed by: Nick Wayne

The School for Scandal plays at the RSC in Stratford upon Avon until 6 September, with further info here.