The Rivals

If he accomplished nothing else, Irish playwright and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan could say that he found a new and memorable way to mangle the English language. Among the eccentrics and outsized personalities of his gentle satire of sappy romances, you’ll find a character named Mrs. Malaprop, mother of the word malapropism, whose complete indifference to the right word in the right place leads her to deliciously loopy pronouncements like “if I reprehend anything in this world, it is the use of my oracular tongue, and a nice derangement of epitaphs.” Though his later A School For Scandal is often considered the better play, The Rivals is generally held to be the funniest. And what better reason to go to the theater? 245 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis; (612) 333-3010; www.theatreintheround.org