Gossip blogger Sam Nathan feels vindicated by the shameless rumour-mongering in a funky update on Sheridan's play
Eighteenth-century farce isn't usually my bag, but I enjoyed this. The production works hard to bring out the parallels between the gossip-obsessed world of Sheridan's play, and the equally gossip-hungry world of today.
I really liked the way the play is styled. It's vibrant and clubby, and mixes period costume with funky, modern stuff you could wear out in Dalston; the overall look is quite Rihanna or Lady Gaga. All the characters are pretty over-the-top, too, though I think that's intentional ? they're meant to be stereotypes. One of them, Charles, reminded me of Pete Doherty: he's what I'd call an "intellectual partier".
The play proves that our love of gossip is innate. The characters pass on rumours like Chinese whispers, which is pretty much how Twitter works; at one point, they even exchange gossip on their BlackBerrys.
They do end up with some pretty ridiculous versions of the truth: one character says that when someone was shot, the bullet bounced off him, hit a bust of Shakespeare, flew off at a 90-degree angle and then hit a postman. This reminded me of the rumours that were spread about William Hague being romantically involved with his assistant, Christopher Myers.
The key line is spoken by a character called Mrs Candour. "The tale-bearers," she says, "are as bad as the tale-makers." For the characters in the play, being gossiped about is shameful. If they'd had super-injunctions, they would have used them. But the interesting thing is that today, the tale-bearers are the tale-makers: in the trashy gossipy world I work in, the celebrities want to be written about. They go to the right clubs; they use Twitter and other social networking sites. They know gossip is entertainment, it's escapism, and, as this play shows, it always has been.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/may/29/another-view-the-school-for-scandal
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