The Rivals's production remains unrivaled

CENTERSTAGE, the state theater of Maryland, is well-known for pulling out all the stops.

It's been home to a number of belting beauties and rising stars. But The Rivals, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, showed the audience members something they had never seen before from the powerhouse theater: a feather-light dance in a fanciful world, bubbling like yeast rising to a delicious conclusion, sweet and soft as yellow cake.

The show confirms what most of theater goers already know — the best comedy doesn't need to try very hard. The effort behind it is evident, but the show itself isn't forced at all.

Even for the actors, whose decisions are unilaterally bold and often grandiose, there is a base stock of subtlety (this reviewer would disagree with those who say the acting is over-the-top . . . The word "unrestrained" comes to mind rather than over-enthusiastic. When they're alive, as they really are at most times, the performances are electric.

The senior members of the cast, especially, set the mood for the show throughout.

The most wonderful part of watching the show is in the most unlikely place. Where the production might have been subject to that whiplash blackout moment between scenes, each transition in The Rivals is individually spellbinding.

The cast moves the set — designed by Caleb Wertenbaker, who evidently has a flair for the lush and simple — with twinkling aliveness and awareness, fluidly finding themselves in and out of each other's scenes without pause or loss of energy in between.

Delightfully masking the transitions heard throughout the entire show is the original music scored by Ryan Rumery. It's the first thing attendees are exposed to as the show opens, and the sound dances precariously on the border between fanciful and cutesy — this was to great success — and put the lush periwinkle set into context.

Somehow, beautifully, both a transporting score and eye-catching color palette did not distract from the story being told.

This story is that of The Rivals, who happen to be one and the same person. The hand to be won is that of Miss Lydia Languish (the bubbly Zoe Winters), who has fallen deeply for lower-class Beverly.

She's been tricked, though, since Beverly is, in fact, a fictional persona of Captain Jack Absolute (Manu Narayan) who fears she'd reject him if she knew of his fortune and status.

Lydia has, you see, a wild imagination and devours — in secret — novels of romantic and chivalrous lovers. What rich suitor wouldn't feel a bit bland in comparison? But Jack's secret can't be kept for long, especially when his father, Sir Anthony Absolute (David Margulies), gets the idea to arrange the perfect marriage between Jack and Lydia.

You may have heard the term "malapropism" in your seventh grade English class — a term for a word which is replaced with another similar but entirely inappropriate word, like a "Bushism" — and it comes from the character who commits exactly that grammatical crime in the script.

Mrs. Malaprop is a treat to watch at every turn, and the whole theater seems to jettison Broadway veteran Kristine Nielson from one laugh to the next. (A particularly memorable malapropism: "She's more headstrong than an allegory on the Nile.") Nielson flutters like a butterfly from line to line and yet she maintains her status; she is not delicate. A treat to watch.

And at intermission, while you try to decide which of her verbal contortions tickled you most, you might find yourself at the cafe purchasing "Mrs. Malaprop's Pineapple of Politeness," their four-dollar signature tropical drink that is the pinnacle of a good CENTERSTAGE concession deal. (The cheapest glass of wine in the theater is seven dollars).

Don't let the term "period comedy" discourage you from seeing this show. It's as contemporary in feel as a child's dream. It's just as the program says: The Rivals is set in the present . . . if the present were 1775. A captivating show – owing to brave acting, strong direction, and clear vision.

Additionally, something special is to be said for the CENTERSTAGE experience. The opening night of the show, attendees walked into a beautiful theater packed with artists and art-lovers from around the city. Some of Baltimore's biggest names were there, including the new artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah, and even a celebrity (CENTERSTAGE alumna Lois Smith of True Blood fame, married to David Margulies, one of The Rivals's incredible senior actors).

And if that weren't special enough, the show opened with a brief curtain-opening by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who praised Mr. Kwei-Armah, extolled the importance of the arts in Baltimore City and shared an insightful John Waters quote with the crowd: "In New York, people think they're weird and they're not. But In Baltimore, people are weird, and they think they're not."

The Rivals runs from Oct. 5th until Oct. 30th. Tickets range from $10 to $55 and can be purchased on www.centerstage.org.