Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks.
Audiobooks by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Browse audiobooks by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, listen to samples and when you're ready head over to Audiobooks.com where you can get 3 FREE audiobooks on us
The Rivals has been delighting audiences since its very first presentation at London's Covent Garden Theatre on January 17th, 1775. The idealistic Lydia Languish, reads nothing but romantic novels, and in doing so, believes she can only find true love in the arms of a man without wealth. Captain Jack Absolute has fallen in love with her, and pretends to be a penniless ensign to win her heart. Coming between these two lovers are some of the most extraordinary comic characters ever to grace a stage; the autocratic Sir Anthony Absolute, the misspeaking Mrs. Malaprop, the fiery Irishman from Clod hall - Sir Lucius O'Trigger; and poor Bob Acres, a country squire who finds himself with a dueling pistol in his hand. One of the funniest late-Restoration comedies, "The Rivals" has spanned the centuries, and will continue to do so.
Romantic havoc ensues in the town of Bath when Sir Anthony arrives to arrange the marriage of his son Captain Jack Absolute to the wealthy Lydia Languish. Jack and Lydia are already in love, but because of Lydia’s obsession with romantic novels, Jack has disguised himself as a poor officer named Ensign Beverly – and he is only one of Lydia’s many suitors. The Rivals was Sheridan’s first play, and this charming comedy of manners continues to be widely performed today.
Includes an interview with Linda Kelly, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the author of Richard Brinsley Sheridan: A Life.
An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring:
Lloyd Owen as Captain Jack Absolute
Lucy Davis as Lydia Languish
Rosalind Ayres as Mrs. Malaprop
Kenneth Danziger as Thomas
Neil Dickson as David
Sarah Drew as Julia
Julian Holloway as Sir Lucius O’Trigger
Christopher Neame as Sir Anthony Absolute
Moira Quirk as Lucy
Alan Shearman as Fag
Simon Templeman as Bob Acres
Matthew Wolf as Faulkland
Directed by Martin Jarvis. Recorded at The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood in 2010.
Beware the gossips! Lady Sneerwell and her hireling Snake are certainly up to no good in this timeless send-up of hypocritical manners. Thanks to their scandal-mongering, the comely Lady Teazle must fend off the slanderous barbs that have caught the ear of her elderly husband - as well as every other gossip in London! What follows is a torrent of mistaken identities and sex-crazed scheming in which the upper classes have never looked so low class.
Includes an interview with Michael Hackett, the Chair of the Department of Theater in the School of Theater, Film and Television at the University of California-Los Angeles.
An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring:
Stuart Bunce as Charles Surface
Jane Carr as Mrs. Candour
John H. Francis as Rowley and others
Henri Lubatti as Snake, Moses and others
Christopher Neame as Sir Oliver Surface
Moira Quirk as Maria and Maid
Julian Sands as Joseph Surface
Susan Sullivan as Lady Sneerwell
Tara Summers as Lady Teazle
Simon Templeman as Sir Peter Teazle
James Warwick as Crabtree and others
Matthew Wolf as Sir Benjamin Backbite
Directed by Michael Hackett. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles.
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.
