Full casting is announced for the RSC’s revival of The School for Scandal which begins performances in Stratford upon Avon on 2 July.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s brilliantly biting comedy will star Geoffrey Streatfeild (Anatomy of a Scandal; The Other Boleyn Girl; Kinky Boots) in the role of troubled husband Sir Peter Teazle alongside Tara Tijani who makes her RSC debut as society beauty Lady Teazle.
Also making their debuts with the company this season are Siubhan Harrison (Home, I’m Darling; Les Miserables; The Ocean at the End of the Lane) who plays the conniving Lady Sneerwell with John Leader as Charles Surface and Yasemin Özdemir as Maria. They are joined by Stefan Adegbola as Joseph Surface and Wil Johnson as Sir Oliver Surface.
Directed by Tinuke Craig, the show runs in repertoire in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon between Saturday 2 July – Friday 6 September.
Tinuke Craig, director, said: “I’m so thrilled to be reviving this delightful play and to be working with such a skilled and inventive group of actors. There’s something about Sheridan’s approach to comedy that feels startingly fresh, relevant and contemporary, despite being written over 250 years ago. Vanity, envy, gossip, self-delusion, sleaze – it doesn’t take much to see how little our habits have changed over the years! And to be making this work at such an exciting time in the RSC’s history is the cherry on the cake.”
Joining Tinuke on the creative team are Set and Costume Designer Alex Lowde, Lighting Designer Oliver Fenwick, Composer D.J Walde, Sound Designer Max Pappenheim, Movement Director Ingrid Mackinnon, Video Designer Ravi Deepres, Dramaturg Jude Christian and Casting Director Matthew Dewsbury CDG.
The School for Scandal will run in rep alongside Blanche Marvin’s revival of The Merry Wives of Windsor which will feature previously announced cast -Samantha Spiro, Richard Goulding & Siubhan Harrison.
The current season at the RSC, the first for new co-artistic directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey, opened with Love’s Labour’s Lost starring Bridgerton’s Luke Thompson playing in Stratford to 18 May; upcoming productions include English (9 May -1 June) & a new stage adaptation of Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia (18 April to 1 June 2024). See here for a full list of announced shows.
