Photos: Patricia Hodge and Robert Bathurst in THE RIVALS

Get a first look at production photos of The Rivals at the Orange Tree Theatre. The cast features Robert Bathurst (Anthony Absolute), Patricia Hodge (Mrs Malaprop), Pete Ashmore (Frederick Arnold Gieves), Joëlle Brabban (Lucy), Zoe Brough (Lydia Languish), Dylan Corbett-Bader (Bob Acres), Jim Findley (Thomas), Colm Gormley (Lucius O’Trigger), Robert Maskell (David), Boadicea Ricketts (Julia Melville), James Sheldon (‘Faulty’ Faulkland), Kit Young (Jack Absolute).

The production is directed by Tom Littler, with set and costume design by Anett Black and Neil Irish, lighting design by William Reynolds, sound design and composition by Tom Attwood, and movement direction by Leah Harris. The assistant director is Freya Griffiths, costume supervision is by Emma Kylmälä, and the casting consultant is Ginny Schiller CDG.

You thought! Thought does not become a young woman. Bath in the Roaring Twenties: risqué revelry, romance, and rivalry in the Assembly Rooms – a town torn between tradition and the new age.

Lydia and Jack are made for each other – but Lydia’s a rebel and Jack’s too posh to be her beau. What’s a chap to do? A little harmless deception, of course. Meanwhile, Jack’s father, Anthony Absolute, is absolutely determined to be obeyed, and Lydia’s guardian Mrs Malaprop is seeking a love-affair of her own – if only she could find the right words...