Emmy Stonelake, Dannie Harris, Leah Jamieson, Megan Louise Wilson and Lucy Gray in Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of).Mihaela Bodlovic/Supplied
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- Title: Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of)
- Written by: Isobel McArthur (after Jane Austen)
- Director: Isobel McArthur and Simon Harvey
- Actors: Ruth Brotherton, Christina Gordon, Lucy Gray, Dannie Harris, Leah Jamieson
- Company: Mirvish Productions
- Venue: CAA Theatre
- City: Toronto
- Year: To Jan. 14, 2024
Critic’s Pick
Regency period England meets a contemporary karaoke bar in Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), Isobel McArthur’s ingenious, Olivier Award-winning stage reworking of Jane Austen’s ubiquitous novel.
In McArthur’s version of the story, the female servants from Austen’s 1813 book have been stuck in limbo for centuries. After all, there likely were no “happily ever afters” – or any endings at all – for the modest characters who answered the doors, dusted the furniture and cleaned out the chamber pots in Austen and her contemporaries’ leisurely world of romantic sparring, card games and tea drinking.
Still, they had, or have, power. The delay of a crucial letter, they tell us, or the quick topping-up of an alcoholic drink, could radically alter the story and change the outcome of their employers’ lives.
And so, to pass the time – after they’ve made sure to dust the seats in the first few rows of the CAA Theatre – the five staffers recreate the familiar story of the five Bennet sisters, their nattering mother and quiet father, the wealthy new bachelor who’s rented a home at a neighbouring estate and his arrogant friend, Mr. Darcy.
The play is an Olivier Award-winning stage reworking of Jane Austen’s ubiquitous novel.Mihaela Bodlovic/Supplied
Clad in plain cotton dresses and Doc Martens boots, the women raid their bosses’ closets and dress up to play all the key players. When the mood calls for it, they even whip out a microphone for a song, each tune cleverly chosen for its aptness.
For instance, their opening group number is a spirited take on Elvis Costello’s Every Day I Write the Book – get it? When the pretty but conventional Bennet sister Jane meets the eligible neighbour, Mr. Bingley, she takes up the mic to sing Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? And when protagonist Elizabeth Bennet is shunned by Mr. Darcy, she belts out You’re So Vain.
All of this would be entertaining enough, but McArthur has added more depth, context and nuance to the material. Periodically, the women fill us in on details about life in turn-of-the-19th century England, including the fact that women weren’t allowed to inherit money or property, a theme that subtly underlies the whole novel. McArthur has also added a fascinating queer subtext to Elizabeth’s friendship with bestie Charlotte. And there’s lots of social critique in the way the working class women understand what’s going on before their “superiors” do.
McArthur and her co-director Simon Harvey have ensured that the satiric yet affectionate tone is just right. They could have earned easy laughs by referencing the book’s many adaptations, but there’s only a single subtle Colin Firth joke in all of its 2 hour and 25 minute run time. And even with the appearance of contemporary markers like a Tesco bag, an empty can of Pringles and a box of Quality Street candy – which Mrs. Bennet devours when she’s anxious about her daughters’ fates – the play respects its source material.
The show features a solid ensemble, with a scene-stealing performance by Leah Jamieson as the Bennet’s awkward relation Mr. Collins and the forgotten Bennet sister, Mary.Mihaela Bodlovic/Supplied
The script’s campiest, most ludicrous musical reference originates from the book and involves the haughty, imperious Lady Catherine de Bourgh and her nephew – a joke that’s too good to spoil. Also too fun to give away is how the directors deal with the Bennet father.
Ana Inés Jabares-Pita’s set is dominated by a long, sweeping staircase, with two cupboards beneath it that cleverly act as entrance and exit ways. A couple of ornate period screens allow characters to quickly change into their evocative costumes. One of the funniest moments comes when, as Elizabeth and her aunt are walking through Mr. Darcy’s grand estate, one of his servants twirls around, grabs a tailcoat and then poses in a frame held by another servant to suggest Darcy’s family portrait. Brilliant.
In the original 2018 production at Glasgow’s Tron Theatre and then at the West End run in 2021, McArthur herself played the dual roles of Darcy and Mrs. Bennet, among others. In this leg of the U.K. tour, they’re played by Dannie Harris, whose Darcy is as upright and uptight as her Mrs. Bennet is brash and inappropriate.
In writer and co-director Isobel McArthur's version of the story, the female servants from Austen’s 1813 book have been stuck in limbo for centuries.Mihaela Bodlovic/Supplied
It’s hard to single out performers in such a solid ensemble, but Leah Jamieson plays the Bennet’s awkward relation Mr. Collins and the forgotten Bennet sister, Mary, with scene-stealing glee. And Lucy Gray disappears into her roles as the servant Tillie, the pining Charlotte and the Bingley siblings.
As a piece of theatre, there are strands of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (coming to this same venue in a few months) and even Peter Brooks’s Marat/Sade in the play’s dramatic DNA. But it’s also great fun for all audiences.
A couple of Gen Z women were sitting in front of me, and when they heard a plot point late in the second act they squealed with surprise. It is a truth universally acknowledged, I suppose, that Jane Austen’s story, whatever clothes it has on, will appeal to just about everyone.
In the interest of consistency across all critics’ reviews, The Globe has eliminated its star-rating system in film and theatre to align with coverage of music, books, visual arts and dance. Instead, works of excellence will be noted with a critic’s pick designation across all coverage. (Television reviews, typically based on an incomplete season, are exempt.)