The School for Scandal

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.