Ad disclosure: we were given press tickets free of charge for the purpose of this post.
Tuesday night we were at the Birmingham REP to see Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) on stage… and it was brilliant. We laughed our heads off all the way through – the whole audience did – and the performance finished with a well deserved standing ovation.
Price & Prejudice* (*sort of) is a completely different type of adaptation to any I have seen before. I’ve seen quite a few adaptations on stage by now, and I’m pretty sure this is my favourite. With a female-only cast of six, who each play two, three, four, or even five characters, this version of the story is both totally modern and yet still set in the regency era.
Written by Isobel McArthur, who also plays Mrs Bennett, Mr Darcy, and servant Flo, this adaptation of Jane Austen’s more famous story is a clever take on the book that still has the humour and romance of the original.
It’s hard to describe exactly what we witnessed last night. Six women from ‘below stairs’ introduced themselves to the audience, and proceeded to retell the story of Pride & Prejudice, with a fair bit of added swearing and over the top (but in a good way) dramatics.
The talented cast play instruments, sing karaoke, and dance around the stage, all with perfect comedic timing. All of the characters are just as they are in the original material, exaggerated the perfect amount. The audience is kept involved all the way through, with the servants pulling faces at them and introducing each new character and scene change directly to them.
Christina Gordon switched from the mild mannered sweet Jane to the imperious Lady Catherine, and Hannah Jarret-Scott was hilarious as both the Bingley siblings and Charlotte Lucas. Meghan Tyler shone as the sarcastic Elizabeth, and Felixe Forde’s Georgie Wickham was brilliantly sleazy. Isobel McArthur’s transformation from the hysterical hypochondriac Mrs Bennett to the imperious Mr Darcy was amazing.
As for the rather inept Mr Bennett? He was represented by an empty leather chair and a newspaper, back turned to the audience. Any entreaty from his families was met with a prolonged moment of dead silence, much to the amusement of the audience.
Some scenes stood out as especially good; Jane’s horseback journey to Netherfield being one of them, and the Pemberley meeting the other. There were references to modern culture – including a certain well known 6 hour long adaptation of the novel – that had the audience howling with laughter. Who knew Lady Catherine had a musical relation in the form of Chris de Burgh?
The audience is kept involved all the way through, with the servants pulling faces at them and introducing each new character and scene change directly to them. The modern elements juxtaposed with the regency setting kept the audience laughing too – with Mrs Bennett puffing away on an inhaler instead of calling for smelling salts, and a depressed Elizabeth eating Frosties straight out of the box.
If you are a fan of the book, go see it. If you’re not a fan of the book but want to spend a few hours bursting with laughter, go see it too. You don’t need to be an Austen fan to appreciate this adaptation – though it helps if you are.
