PREVEIW
The School for Scandal
University of Alberta Studio Theatre
March 29 to April 7
Timms Centre for the Arts
112 St. and 87 Ave.
Tickets: $12 to $25. Call 780-492-2495 or at www.ualberta.ca/artshows
Throw together a bunch of bored 18th century upper crust society ladies and gentlemen, and the snake-pit of gossip rises in full force.
According to director Mitchell Cushman, it may be three centuries later, but people are still the same. Just look at media licking their chops while circling Trump and Stormy Daniels.
Cushman, the 2018 Mary Mooney Distinguished Visiting Artist, has been tapped to direct Studio Theatre’s final production of the season – Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s School for Scandal running March 29 to April 7 at the Timms Centre for the Arts.
“It’s rare to find in the classical canon humour that still feels relevant today. Here is a group of people that gossip about everyone behind people’s backs. We’re looking at how we can equate it to social media and all forms of media. With the idea of ‘fake news' lots of people have their own set of facts. It becomes a running joke in the play,” said Cushman.
In this comedy of manners, Lady Sneerwell leads the tongue-wagging. She spreads gossip among her narcissistic peers eager to escape the never-ending boredom that wealth and position affords.
This outrageous cast of characters preys on each other and feasts on gossip and rumour, even as they live in terror of being exposed for their sins.
Cushman has added an extra layer to Sheridan’s play by starting the show as a group of high school actors that arrive to rehearse a production.
“We’ve come up with the high school alter egos. It works for the cliquey nature of the characters.”
St. Albert’s Hayley Moorhouse plays Mrs. Rowley, a lower class character.
“She’s a foil, a voice of reason in this crazy world. She tries to reduce the scandal and ensure that everyone gets what they deserve,” said Moorhouse, who this year has landed roles as a German activist, a Russian thief and now a British servant.
“This is a fun, tongue-in-cheek scandal, and it’s exciting in the way it creates chaos, mayhem and turns people’s lives upside down. It’s amazing how insidious it gets and how disastrous the consequences can be.”
Cushman added, "The fact it can have an impact 300 years after it was written reflects the cyclical nature of human beings, and that we may never understand some social dynamics.
