The School for Scandal

Barbican Theatre, London

About the Show

Deborah Warner’s fresh take on Sheridan’s The School For Scandal imbues this scorching comedy with contemporary resonance as our own celebrity-obsessed culture collides with the gossip-ridden, high fashion world of eighteenth-century London.

From the salon to the catwalk, Warner creates a highly charged, visually inventive and sexually ravenous world with more than a nudge towards today’s cocaine-driven clubland. This full-blown theatrical explosion comes from the director whose recent work has pushed the frontiers of such masterpieces as Mother Courage, Messiah and The Wasteland.

A searing lampoon of a society obsessed by wit, fashion and public reputation. With its glorious cast of characters including Snake, Sir Benjamin Backbite, Lady Candour, and the Surface brothers, this is a timely revival of Sheridan’s high-spirited, comic masterpiece.

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