When Sir Oliver Surface returns to England after a voyage in the West Indies, he must choose an heir to his enormous fortune. Rightly suspect of his two nephews’ moral character, Surface goes undercover in an attempt to choose the worthy heir in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The School for Scandal. There’s Charles, an extravagant rake in love; and Joseph, a double-dealing scoundrel who attempts to seduce his brother’s beloved (and a high-society wife or two). Through tricks, twists and plenty of meddling, Surface comes to see whose dissolute behavior is simply a passing phase.
Through April 9. $18-42, times vary. American Shakespeare Center, 10 S. Market St., Staunton. (540) 855-5588.