Perhaps best known for her modern, feminist, and funny Jane Austen adaptations, Kate Hamill was the most produced playwright in America last season. For some reason, we can't get enough of strong and relatable female heroines right now. Theatre in the Round is continuing this trend with the first show of their 74th season,
Pride and Prejudice, everyone's favorite Jane Austen story by everyone's Jane Austen interpreter.
Park Square Theatre produced the regional premiere of this play in 2019, and while I appreciated the fun and fresh look at the story, I felt it went a bit too far into over-the-top slapsticky territory for me. But I'm pleased to report that this production strikes just the perfect balance between comedy, modernity, and the traditional story we all love. So while I stated that I loved about 75% of Park Square's version, I love 100% of this show. It's so much fun, with a huge and talented cast portraying the endearing Bennet sisters and their charming beaux, and a really great use of music and movement, well staged in the unique in-the-round space.
Pride and Prejudice continues for two more weekends, but this beloved story is already selling out shows so
don't wait too long to get your tickets!
The script makes repeated references to marriage, or the pursuit thereof, as a game, which in this production director Penelope Parsons-Lord has interpreted as a sort of blind man's bluff. The play begins with several of the young marriageable women blindfolded, surrounded by the cast, bachelors passing by and tapping them on the shoulder only to disappear again. This wonderful and creative use of movement continues throughout the play, particularly in the scene transitions. The familiar story plays out with the Bennet sisters (consolidated to four instead of five) looking for a husband (or not), bachelors coming and going and revealing their true natures. As we move from the modest Bennet home to Mr. Bingley's estate to Pemberley, Mr. Darcy's grand home, the ensemble moves the period furniture around into different arrangements, accompanied by modern pop songs and often dancing through the scene transitions. If music is called for during scenes (including some charming dancing, choreographed by Claire Achen), it's classical versions of familiar pop songs (which I like to call
Bridgerton music). And there are also wordless scenes with just movement and music, that further the story and character development, including one memorable scene in which the sisters' suitors serenade them like exotic dancers, which is the moment we know this is definitely not our grandmothers'
Pride and Prejudice! All of this music and movement and creativity infuses the play with fun and energy and momentum, which despite the nearly three-hour runtime does not feel too long.
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| photo by Tom Taintor |
The last production I saw used a cast of just eight actors playing multiple roles, but this production more doubles that to an ensemble of 17, and perhaps having each actor play just one role allows them to focus more on the humanity than the idiosyncrasies of the character, of which there are plenty. The playwright took the characteristics that are present in the novel and heightened them, most notably in the off-putting Mary who's always silently showing up to startle people and then continuously coughing in a most unattractive manner, and the eager dog-like Mr. Bingley panting over Jane, constantly playing with a ball, and commanded by Darcy to sit, stay, speak. But Stephanie Kahle's portrayal of Mary, while still hilarious and getting some of the biggest laughs of the night, allows us to see the character as a real and worthy person. And Michael Hundevad plays just enough of Bingley's canine features in the most charming way, without going fully absurd. The whole cast walks this fine line between comedy and grounded humanity well, none more so than our two favorite Bennet sisters, Erika Sasseville as the practically perfect Jane and Eva Gemlo as the spirited Lizzy -
not her first time playing the role, and her comfort with the character shows in a very natural performance. Eva is well-matched in Luke Langfeldt as the proud Mr. Darcy, hiding a well of feeling, and the two play the hate-love relationship well. Other highlights in the cast include Maya Vagle as the flighty young Lydia, Alison Anderson as the meddling Mrs. Bennet, and Nick Menzhuber as the exasperated Mr. Bennet, all of whom also lean into the extremes of their characters but not at the expense of the genuine love in this family, which grounds the whole story.
The in-the-round space is well used, and actually lends itself well to the game theme of the play, almost as if the characters are in a fish bowl spinning around in all directions. Simple period furniture soon becomes recognizable to the location, like the large round ottoman in the Bennet home used to great effect. Characters are dressed in lovely period costumes, empire waist dresses and jackets with tails (set design by Madison Bunnell, costume design by Penelope Parsons-Lord and Krista Weiss).
It's no mystery why Jane Austen's work is so enduring, with her penchant for centering women in her stories, giving them voice and agency to choose their own lives and happiness within the limited framework of early 19th Century English society. Kate Hamill has a way of bringing Austen's characters into the 21st Century, infusing them with humor and a modern sensibility while remaining true to the spirit of the stories and the heart of the characters (see also the Guthrie-commissioned
Emma,
Sense and Sensibility which has had two #TCTheater productions, and
Mansfield Park which I'm still waiting for someone in #TCTheater to produce). This lovely cast, director, and creative team have gone all in on the Hamill-Austen spirit, full of music and movement and fun, while still giving us the
Pride and Prejudice that we love.
