Torrid rumor, timeless humor

Gossipmongers have descended on the house of a socially prominent husband who has just discovered his much younger wife with another man. There is discrepancy about the details, so the vultures are squabbling among themselves. Which of two brothers was the wife caught with? Did a fight ensue?

They frantically sift through the rumors so they can rush out to air the news live.

Although the scene may not be out of place in present-day Los Angeles, these news gatherers represent not “Inside Edition” or “Celebrity Justice,” but the gossip network of late 18th century London. Richard Brinsley Sheridan recorded one of the great preoccupations of his day in “The School for Scandal.” Enduringly popular, the 1777 comedy receives a brisk, funny staging at the Mark Taper Forum as part of artistic director Gordon Davidson’s final season of programming.

At the production’s glittering center are acute portrayals by a cast of 18, led by the classical actor Brian Bedford, who also directed.

Bedford portrays the aggrieved but culpable husband with a disarming blend of snarling distemper and chagrined good humor. When news of his discovery renders two old friends helpless with laughter, he can’t help but giggle along. He’s been foolish, and he knows it.

These lifestyles of the rich and famous play out against a backdrop of gleaming Georgian pillars and pediments, in rooms decorated with brocaded furniture and flower-filled vases. The whole scene -- designed by Ann Curtis and Edward E. Haynes Jr. -- is framed by a massive curtain, which emphasizes the theatrical nature of society types who behave as though they’re always on a stage, performing for one another.

As these vain creatures didn’t have access to liposuction or Botox, they had to rely on deceptions of wardrobe and makeup -- a look gloriously captured by costumer Catherine Zuber in corset-waisted gowns and slimmingly long, lean coats.

The sumptuous detail provides the perfect setting for Sheridan’s glittering dialogue, as, for instance, when Bedford’s Sir Peter Teazle enters a roomful of gossips and mutters, “Mercy on me, here is the whole set! A character dead at every word, I suppose.” Or as the virtuous-seeming Joseph Surface tries to persuade young Lady Teazle to take their relationship to the next level, reasoning that her good name “is absolutely dying from too much health.” No dummy, she replies: “Then I perceive your prescription is that I must sin in my own defense and part with my virtue to preserve my reputation?”

Sheridan built his comedy of elements long popular in Western drama: a crotchety older man unwisely married to a much younger wife, young lovers kept apart by the woman’s disapproving guardian, unexpected reappearances, hidden identities and concealment behind screens. What sets his writing apart is his eye for human folly and a great gift for words.

His “School for Scandal” gossips -- his most enduring characters -- are rendered here with the mock frowns, significant glances and extravagant protestations of a supremely silly offshoot of the human race. Chief among them is Lady Sneerwell, whose name is oh, so precisely captured in the sneer that permeates Carolyn Seymour’s dusky voice. For sheer volubility, though, she must compete with the nattering Mrs. Candour, who is given Wagnerian dimension by the booming Marianne Muellerleile.

As Snake, Lady Sneerwell’s henchman, Scott Parkinson incorporates serpentine arm movements into his elaborate bows, while in his second role as Sir Benjamin Backbite, he purses his bow-painted lips with amusing prissiness. In frilly wigs and fluffy laces and furs, he and Edward Hibbert, the latter portraying Backbite’s Uncle Crabtree, are a matched pair of yipping, over-groomed poodles.

Also well matched are Don Reilly and Kevin O’Donnell as the Surface brothers, the former a pious hypocrite in love with the sound of his own voice, the latter an unapologetic drunkard and wastrel -- in other words, the most truly honest of all the characters.

To the list of good-hearted characters surely must be added the radiant, creamy-skinned Devon Sorvari as pure, sweet Maria, in love with O’Donnell’s reformable Charles Surface, and Kate Fry as the tittering, teasing, eminently redeemable Lady Teazle. Add to them as well John Cunningham and Nick Ullett as easygoing gents who see through the sham scandals of the day and wisely refuse to take them seriously.

On this culture ripe for comeuppance, Sheridan pronounces judgment through Sir Peter, saying: “We live in a damned wicked world, and the fewer we praise, the better.”

*

‘The School for Scandal’

Where: Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Holiday schedule varies.

Ends: Jan. 23

Price: $34 to $52

Contact: (213) 628-2772 or www.MarkTaperForum.org

Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes

Brian Bedford...Sir Peter Teazle

Kate Fry...Lady Teazle

Devon Sorvari...Maria

Kevin O’Donnell...Charles Surface

Don Reilly...Joseph Surface

Carolyn Seymour...Lady Sneerwell

Written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Directed by Brian Bedford. Associate director Art Manke. Scenic design by Ann Curtis, adapted by Edward E. Haynes Jr. Costumes Catherine Zuber. Lights Robert Wierzel. Original music Karl Fredrik Lundeberg. Sound Jon Gottlieb. Production stage manager Mary K Klinger.