by Richard Bean and Oliver Chris
25 June – 4 July 2026 (Miller Theatre)
20 – 23 July 2026 (Minack Theatre)
Sheridan’s classic comedy of manners, The Rivals, is given an uproarious Battle of Britain update by Richard Bean, the award-winning writer of One Man, Two Guvnors, and Oliver Chris.
Summer 1940 and the Battle of Britain is well under way in the English Channel. The Germans are attacking coastal targets and our RAF boys are engaged in the defence of our shores. After yet another aerial dog fight, Pilot Officer Jack Absolute flies home to rejoin his intrepid young 634 Hurricane squadron.
Back on British soil, Jack is shocked to find his old flame, Lydia Languish at the barracks having recently delivered a new MK2 hurricane as part of her WAAF duties. Setting his sights on winning her heart, but with turbulence and hilarity never far away, Jack’s advances quickly turn to anarchy when the young heiress demands to be loved on her own terms – ‘we’re all equals now!’
This was an amateur production.
Cast
Jack Absolute | Adam Stevens
Lydia Languish | Gail Bishop
Mrs Malaprop | Diane Ebden
Roy Faulkland | Peter Brown
Julia Melville | Laura Mackie
Lucy | Julia Stevens
Sir Anthony Absolute | Chris Hannigan
Bob Acres | Ziggi Szafranski
Bikram ‘Tony’ Khattri | Rax Lakhani
Brian Coventry | Richard Haslam
Dudley Scunthorpe | James Mercer
Kingsmith / Ensemble | Jay Rolfe
Sampson / Ensemble | Elke Desanghere
Ensemble | Lucinda Banton, Sally Bosman, Helen Dunford-Hearn, Tamzin Kerslake, Jane Monaghan, Anthony Perry-Portsmouth, Tamsin Reeve, Tony Richardson
Directed by Robin Clark and Natalie Jones
Photography by Jamie Trezise
Review | July 2026 | Theo Spring
From the moment the play commenced and Mrs Malaprop wove her way through the audience with a genteel greeting here and there, this production was a joy. The comedy lines came in helter-skelter, the cast had total measure of their individual characters and the cut glass delivery of the lines never faltered (unless, of course, you were James Mercer playing Dudley Scunthorpe or Adam Stevens as Jack Absolute, pretending to be Dudley Scunthorpe, with their cod ‘opp north’ accents).
Very cleverly written by playwrights Richard bean and Oliver Chris, the story is based on the tale of romantic intrigue – The Rivals – written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and all the original characters were re-assigned to the grounds of Malaprop Hall in West Sussex in August 1940 where an air crew sat waiting for the signal to ‘scramble’. A small air base had been built on Mrs Malaprop’s ‘crochet’ lawn and the diverse air crew were either in love or hoping to be in love.
Mike Bell’s set faithfully represented the immaculate stripes of a cared-for lawn, and the indoor scenes were set stage right. Stage left was the air crew’s domain and, in the background, the realm of Intelligence Officer Brian Coventry, complete with ‘score board’ of planes coming in and out.
The aforementioned diverse crew boasted Bob Acres, an Australian – Ziggi Szafranski with a great Ozzie accent, a beautifully-turbaned Bikram Khattri – Rax Lakhani, an anxious Roy Faulkand – Peter Brown and the titular Jack Absolute – Adam Stevens.
It was Diane Ebden as Mrs Malaprop who provided a constant flow of comedy with her ‘sound alike’ substitute words with the odd bit of horrendously inaccurate grammar thrown in. Her amorous intentions towards Sir Anthony Absolute added more comedy and she had truly made the very most of this gem of a role. Chris Hannigan created the bumptious and strict Sir Anthony, looking splendid in his uniform and James Mercer took on the northern accent to play the mechanic Dudley Scunthorpe – Lucy’s would-be sweetheart and also the fancy of Lydia.
Adding a welcome modern touch, the character of Lydia Languish, aced by Gail Bishop, was a forthright and capable member of the air crew easily able to hold her own in the sky. Add in the essential cheeky and duplicitous maid, Lucy, given bubble and no scruples by Julia Stevens and Roy’s love-lorn fiancée, a determined Laura Mackie and the main cast is complete.
A six-strong ensemble appeared throughout in a variety of roles. Their well-rehearsed set-changes kept the many scenes moving on without a pause and their dancing and flying skills were notable. Dancing? Well, a glorious Lindy Hop choreographed by Elke Desanghere was fun and full of different moves and flying skills? Well, with model aeroplanes, held aloft, there were two air battles to perform, each accompanied by rousing music and each with a different outcome for the plot, but the aeroplanes were amazing and the ‘battles’ emotional.
There seemed to be a lot of kissing in this production with Peter Brown and Laura Mackie as Roy and Julia, having a prolonged go at it. There was poetry from Rax Lakhani as Bikram – renamed Tony because no-one could pronounce Bikram, there was boxing sparring, the inevitable letters intentionally delivered to the wrong recipient by Lucy the maid and there was a hint of longing given by Richard Haslam as Brian Coventry – a clever touch.
All-important costumes had to be right – from Sir Anthony’s Major-General attire and the RAF uniforms to the vital flying outfits and accoutrements – a huge task for Berry Butler in Wardrobe, but the whole show was beautifully and accurately dressed.
Alongside the double direction by Robin Clark and Natalie Jones, which was so very well thought through, so much hard work had obviously gone into this show – by both the cast and the production team. The result was complex and funny but which did not forget the darker side of the realism of war and the losses it caused on so many levels.
As a brief final note, it is a show worth seeing twice, to catch up with the many malapropisms which would inevitably have been missed. So many gems!
Many congratulations on a great theatrical achievement which will, no doubt, be a great success when taken to The Minack Theatre this summer on 20 – 23 July. minack.com