A CurtainUp Newsbriefs
The Rivals
Curtain Up
Elyse Sommer
November 25, 2002
The Rivals. Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals is the 2nd in the TACT (The Actors Company Theatre) 10th Anniversary season at the company's new home at the French Institute Alliance Fran?ais. The 18th-century satire of mistaken identities and romantic near-misses among a dashing captain, an idealistic heiress and the blundering Mrs. Malaprop has enough meaty parts for a full complement of TACT actors. James Murtaugh is Sir Anthony Absolute, Jack Koenig is Captain Absolute, Rob Breckenridge is Faulkland, Kyle Fabel is Acres, Gregory Salatai is Sir Lucius O'Trigger, Scott Schafer is Fag, Jamie Bennett is David/Thomas, Delphi Harrington is Mrs. Malaprop, Margaret Nichols is Lydia Languish, Mary Bacon is Julia, and Eve Michelson o s Lucy. Co-Artistic Director Scott Alan Evans steers them through the assorted mishaps.
Few full productions come up to the high standards set by this most able cast under Evans' direction. Although on book, the actors scarcely look at their scripts, offering performances fully rehearsed and finely performed. Most notable are Scott Schafer's Fag, Delphi Harrington's Mrs. Malaprop and James Murtaugh and Jack Koenig as the elder and youger Absolutes. The concert style staging is without set but it is far more than a reading, featuring as it does costumes by David Toser, lighting by Mary Louise Geiger, and music by Jonathan Faiman. TACT's mission is to bring neglected classics to the stage; after this unrivaled (pun intended) production of Sheridan's comedy, one will not want to miss the next production in Graham Greene's The Potting Shed in January.
Seen on Monday November 18th by Dave Lohrey. Performances and ticket purchases for the November 24th 2pm and November 25th 7:30 pm performances at Florence Gould Hall/French InstituteAlliance Fran?ais 55 East 59th Street. or via Ticketmaster at 212/307-4100. For more information on the rest of the TACT season visit the company web site