Vanity Fair at the Royal Lyceum – Preview

Vanity Fair is coming soon to the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh.

“You’ve got no money and you want to compete with those who have. Everybody is striving for what is not worth the having.”

Adapted from Thackeray’s sprawling novel satirising the ambitions and vanities of society in 19th century England, Vanity Fair follows two girls who leave Miss Pinkerton’s Academy for Young Ladies and embark on parallel journeys to make their way in the world. Becky Sharp is cunning and manipulative, while Amelia Sedley believes fidelity and honour are what really matter.

As their lives and careers intermingle and they follow their soldier husbands into the Napoleonic Wars, Thackeray’s tale puts British morality under the microscope. Originally published in monthly instalments between January 1847 and July 1848, the story is subtitled a ‘novel without a hero’, due to its unconventional portrayal of a society without scruples.

Vanity Fair condenses the scandals, dramas, battles and society balls of Thackeray’s novel into two hours of drama, and is the first of two plays this season to be directed by Associate Artist, Tony Cownie (Mrs Warren’s Profession, Tartuffe). The cast includes Sophia Linden as Becky Sharp (Black Eyed Susan, The Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds), Kim Gerard (Living Quarters) as Amelia Sedley, Amanda Beveridge (Humble Boy, Perth Theatre) as Miss Pinkerton, Steve McNicoll (The Merchant of Venice, Laurel & Hardy) as Joseph Sedley, Antony Eden (The Glass Menagerie, Mrs Warren’s Profession), Simon Muller (The Winter’s Tale) and Matthew Pidgeon (The Wizard of Oz).

Click here for Review by Ros Mackenzie 

Click here to book tickets.

Performances: 14 March – 12 April 2008
Evenings: Tuesday- Saturday at 7.45pm
Matinees: 10,22,26 & 29 March and 5 April at 2.30pm
First Look Friday (preview performance) sponsored by The List: Friday 14 March at 7.45pm- all tickets £5
Pre-show talk: Tuesday 18 March at 6pm with Dr Jonathan Wild, University of Edinburgh Tickets £3/under 18s free
Post-show discussion with members of the cast: Tuesday 25 March (FREE)
Audio described performances: Thursday 27 March at 7.45 & Saturday 29 March at 2.30pm
Touch Tour for the visually impaired: Saturday 29 March at 12.30pm
BSL signed performance: Wednesday 2 April at 7.45pm
Tickets
Evening performances (full price): £11 - £25
Matinee Performances: Wednesday all seats £13 Saturday all seats £15
First Look Friday (11/01/07) - all seats £5
Concessions
Over 60s: £2 off full price for all Tuesday – Thursday shows
Under 18s: Half Price any performance
School Groups: £7.50 (stalls & grand circle). £6.50 (upper circle). Matinees – all seats £6.50. One teacher free with every ten pupils.
Registered unemployed: (Tues – Thurs) half price in advance, £1 tickets available on the day (max 20, stalls only).
Students, people with disabilities: Half price (excludes First Look Fridays), £5 for Wed matinees. Wheelchair spaces are available in the stalls boxes.
Groups: 8+ £3 off each ticket (matinees £2 off); 20+ £4 off each ticket (matinees £3 off) plus one free ticket.
Contacts
Box Office: 0131 248 4848
Groups (8+): 0131 248 4949