Bold, Brash, Over-the-Top Hilarity with Bouts of Lewdness Bordering on Parody
Reviewed by Kim Kaitell
If you are a fan of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice you are not going to know what hit you. If you’ve never read the book, seen a play or the series you may not even know what’s going on! (But in the best way!) Buckle up!
This adaptation, written by Kate Hamill and originally performed in New York for a group of her friends is not the sweeping romance we’ve come to know, but rather an amplified, comedic look at the beloved characters and societal expectations of a bygone era.
The Grand Theatre pays homage to the Hamill’s vision, first performed in 2017, by transforming the Spriet stage into an off-Broadway, independent style theatre complete with brick walls and visible lighting pots, a seemingly “minimalist” set and showcasing a large, chess board like floor tile configuration. A clue perhaps that we are about to witness an intricate game.
The second clue that something different was about to take place is the photo on the cover of the program: Lizzy in a classic empire gown with a modern headset (??) around her neck.
How were they going to bridge the 200-year gap between the original manuscript and this new, comedic adaptation? Curiosity abounds.
Admittedly, I was at first, rather taken aback by the noisy and chaotic entrance of the cast. The onstage clanging of an alarm bell, setting the tone of the play, actually hurt my ears (and I was on the balcony level). It went off twice more in the span of 15 minutes and it left me wondering if I was going to be able to sit through the entire evening if it continued to assault my hearing.
Thankfully they went to a softer sounding bell and after that I was able to relax my attention to the antics at hand and begin to enjoy the fun.
Yes, the Bennets, the Bingleys, The Darcys and the frenzied desire for marriage, money and place in society were the underlying theme, but became secondary to the pursuit of comedy as the main event with the characters nearly reaching caricature status.
As a person who has seen multiple staged productions of Pride and Prejudice, seen the movie, the series, and actually performed in staged readings for the London, Ontario chapter of The Jane Austen Society it did indeed take a minute to comprehend that I was viewing a completely different (although parallel) play.
Any quirky traits of the individual characters were blown-up and exaggerated to the point of hilarity, bordering on parody for the resulting comedic effect.
Mary (Sarah Wilson) seemed to have been parachuted in out of a production of The Addams Family rather than the more serious, awkward and introverted character from the book, exemplifying the fact that this play was going to take us on a real roller-coaster ride! Although, mostly an overlooked character in other productions Mary became one of my favorites in this one. Sarah Wilson to her credit also play Mr. Bingley.
Yes, in this rendition the actors have multiple characters and cross-casting is a common theme.
Nearly all the actors (except the leads) played both traditionally male/female characters.
The title sponsor for this play is W4W and Kate Hamill requests in her script that the company is comprised of a minimum of 50% women. Director Rebecca Northan successfully ran this play with 75% female representation, showcasing an extremely talented cast of hard-working actors who aren’t afraid to go after the laugh.
I got to thinking that the gender swapping in this was so smoothly executed that even if this was a traditional production of the show that it would not have made a difference. For example; the performances of Carmen Grant as “Mr. Whickham” and “Mr. Collins” and also, Andrew Moodie as “Charlotte Lucas” were so delightfully convincing that I may have appreciated it even further in a “straight”, classically staged production. Phenomenal and nuanced characterization by both of them!
Of course, that jumped to my next thought: How interesting would it be for the Grand Theatre to cast an audition for a classic play with roles won by merit with no regard to gender? Hmmm….But that is an aside….
In conclusion, as the adaption is written, there is an assumption that you already have knowledge of Jane Austen’s literary work or at least seen the movie and likely the series. You are otherwise at risk of not understanding the jokes and innuendos that abound throughout the play. Still, if you decide to go anyway you will have a ton of fun as the characters are more than lovable and hilarious, and the story line understandable. You may even want to rush home and at the very least watch the movie and hopefully even read the book.
Expect to laugh and be wonderfully enchanted by the production and especially the caliber of acting and unforgettable performances. Congratulations to all and thank you for the fabulous evening!
Pride and Prejudice
By Kate Hamill
Adapted from the novel by Jane Austen
Directed by Rebecca Northan
Choreography by Krista Leis
Set Designer Brandon Kleiman
Costume Designer Sophie Tang
Sound Designer/Composer Maddie Bausta
Performed by Eric Craig, Raechel Fisher, Carmen Grant, Kate Hennig, Beck Lloyd, Lior Maharjan, Andrew Moodie, Sarah Wilson
Spriet Stage, Grand Theatre, 471 Richmond St. London, Ontario
April 29 – May 17
Reviewed by Kim Kaitell