The Rivals

Written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Narrated by Edith Evans

A comedy of manners in five acts, The Rivals was Sheridan's second commercially produced play. The play is set in Bath in the 18th century, a town legendary for conspicuous consumption and fashion at the time. Wealthy, fashionable people went there to "take the waters", which were believed to have healing properties. Bath was much less exclusive than London, and provides an ideal setting for the characters. The plot centres around the two young lovers, Lydia and Jack. Lydia, who reads a lot of popular novels of the time, wants a purely romantic love affair. To court her, Jack pretends to be "Ensign Beverley", a poor officer. Lydia is enthralled with the idea of eloping with a poor soldier in spite of her guardian, Mrs. Malaprop, a moralistic widow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Saland Publishing
• Release date: Jan 11, 2009
• ISBN: 9781906394592

Richard Brinsley Sheridan

In need of funds, Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) turned to the only craft that could gain him the remuneration he desired in a short time: he began writing a play. He had over the years written and published essays and poems, and among his papers were humorous unfinished plays, essays and political tracts, but never had he undertaken such an ambitious project as this. In a short time, however, he completed The Rivals. He was 23 years old.

Reviews for The Rivals

[Craig Johnson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An outstanding recording from the 1960s featuring the best British actors of the era led by Edith Evans as Mrs. Malaprop and Alec McGowan as Bob Acres. Special thank you to wenestvedt_1 here in the reviews who mentioned attending the Park Square Theater production in 5th grade. I played Captain Absolute in that production -- 1985.

[leslie398 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this full audiobook via the L.A. Theatre Works website. I so do enjoy this play, especially Mrs. Malaprop! A wonderful way to spend a grey morning :)

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This comedy was first produced in 1775 and much of its humour still comes across well, with confusions of identities, romantic misunderstandings and, most famously, the wonderful comic creation of Mrs Malaprop, with her confusions of similar sounding words which have given birth to a term in modern English, such as "an allegory (alligator) on the banks of the Nile" or "the very pine-apple (pinnacle) of politeness". I enjoyed this rather more than School for Scandal.

[atreic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was witty and amusing with very strongly drawn characters - much better than I was expecting, and a good readthrough.

[wenestvedt_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Saw "The Rivals" in 5th grade with my best friend Matt and his parents at the tiny Park Square Theater in downtown Saint Paul, and loved it. I bought this copy at the Killarney Bookshop on my honeymoon. (Yes, I got to go book-shopping on my honeymoon: what a lucky man!)