A raucous love-song to the beloved novel, Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) isn’t out to bury Austen, but to praise her.
📍Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
📅 18 Oct – 5th Nov
💷 From £15.50
🕖 7:30pm
🕖 Running time (approx.): 2hrs and 20 minutes (including one interval)
✍️ Writer & Director: Isobel McArthur
🎬 Director: Simon Harvey
🛠️ Designer: Ana Inés Jabares-Pita
🎂 12+
🎭 BSL INTERPRETED: Wed 2 Nov 7.30pm; AUDIO DESC: Thur 3 Nov 7.30pm; Touch Tour: TBC; CAPTIONS & AUDIO DESCRIBED: Sat 5 Nov 2.30pm
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that popular intellectual property in possession of an enduring fan base, must be in want of a new adaptation. Thus it ever was, thus it shall ever be so. Fortunately, creator Isobel McArthur skirts the many pitfalls which await the literary resurrectionist, by finding innovation in the telling, and not a reinvention of the plot.
It’s a deftly woven comedy of manners, egos, and of course, pride and prejudice, taking in not one, but at least two love stories, and one of the most-loved stories in the English canon. Thus is takes no little bravery to take that literary jewel and re-imagine it, not in time or space, but in humour and music. It could so easily fall flat, but it doesn’t.
McArthur’s script plays up the absurdities inherent to Austen’s tale, whilst transmogrifying much of the dialogue into regional dialect, and modern parlance. Framed as a story told by servants of their ‘betters’, the show has all the plucky charm, and innovation of the better Edinburgh Fringe productions, relying on only a 5 strong cast to inhabit all the players required. It’s a talented troupe who swoop merrily between characters with practiced ease, and deceptively simple, but definitive costume changes.
For those who have managed to achieve literacy without an acquaintance with the originating book, it revolves around one Elizabeth Bennet (Leah Jamieson), second of 5 sisters born to the somewhat middle class Mr.& Mrs. Bennett (Clever prop, and Isobel McArthur). They are landowners near the fictional town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, England. The family having produced no male heirs, and requiring one to avoid penury on their patriarch’s death, the pressure is on for one, or more of the girls to marry ASAP. Hopes are mostly pinned on eldest daughter, and acknowledged beauty Jane (Christina Gordon), and when wealthy young, kind, and most importantly single Mr. Bingley (Hannah Jarrett-Scott) sets up house nearby, the stars seem to have aligned. Accompanying him, is his friend, the enduringly aloof (and also single) Mr. Darcy, whose low opinion of the local womenfolk is challenged upon crossing paths with the exceptionally witty Elizabeth.
Ana Inés Jabares-Pita sets the scene, her set dominated by a grand, sweeping staircase and walkway entirely apt to a period romance, whilst keeping props & furniture to an elegant minimum in order to change scenes. There’s an immediate grandeur to a setting with height, and vertical movement, though perhaps the play could take more advantage of its dimensional possibilities than a handful of short interactions.
McArthur & Harvey take each character and dial their Austen-borne personalities to 11, McArthur’s Darcy so aloof as to approach muteness, whilst her Mrs. Bennett is a paroxysm prone bag of stress prone to Quality Street abuse; Gordon’s Jane is almost pathologically nice, whilst her Lady Catherine is a red froufrou encased snob (i.e. just as in the book); Jarrett-Scott’s Bingley is a nice but dim party-boy, her Charlotte Lucas, a hopelessly in love best friend to Elizabeth; McArthur’s Elizabeth is a plain spoken, sweary, northern lass, who takes sh*t from no-one.
It’s a testament to the humour, and sharp charactersation already found in Austen’s classic that some characters such as Tori Burgess’s odious Mr. Collins, would-be suitor to Elizabeth, is the same overweening creep as ever; whilst her takes on sisters Lydia, and Mary, have the recklessness, and studious obliviousness of their print counterparts respectively.
What of sister number 5, Kitty? Well she is spoken of, but strangely enough, never seen…almost as if she has no part to play whatsoever in the plot, and can be removed without anyone really noticing…
Jarrett-Scott is, however, the unquestionable powerhouse of the show, her turns as Mr. Bingley, Miss Bingley (his outrageous snob of a sister), Charlotte Lucas, and Tilly the servant are individually accomplished, and all the more impressive in combination. Vocally she has the stage capturing tone, and presence to demand attention whenever on stage.
This is no slight upon her 4 talented colleagues, who acquit themselves with oodles of charm, and ability. McArthur herself, Christina Gordon, Leah Jamieson, and Tori Burgess, embody their dual (or more) lives with huge charm, and grand comic timing. It’s an all female cast, you may have noticed, and all the more excellent for it, helping to redress the power imbalance inherent to a time when women couldn’t inherit property, or generally have much say in who they married.
Language, and casting aside, the show’s final innovation is the introduction of karaoke. Pop classics from Carly Simon’s ‘You’re so vain’, sung by Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy in revenge for his insulting opening gambit; to Chris De Burgh’s ‘Lady in Red’ sung in honour of Darcy’s disapproving aunt Catherine De Burgh slot in surprisingly naturally. Thanks to some multi-instrument abilities amidst the cast, these performances also benefit from the unmistakable thrill inherent to live music making.
Whilst not a musical, it’s a tuneful, energetic show, infused with elements of physical theatre, dance, and prone to some well judged breaking of the 4th wall. Look out for one particularly clever scene wherein Elizabeth encounters a portrait of Darcy on a visit to his stately home; there’s no canvas, just a frame…
Ultimately, for all its merits, the show isn’t really breaking new ground, either in Austen interpretation, or in theatrical staging. The framing story of unappreciated servants isn’t really developed beyond a convenient narrative tool, and in caricaturing Darcy quite so much it’s not entirely clear why Elizabeth should form an attachment, never mind devoted affection.
It’s a tonne of fun, nonetheless, and a treat for those who’ve read & re-read the book, and watched and re-watched the 1995 BBC TV adaptation (all others are trash by comparison, that includes Olivier), this is a fabulous way to encounter the story in a fresh & joyful new way.
(Featured Photography Credit: prideandprejudicesortof.com)
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Chuckling. I’m a die-hard leave-the-original-alone type – make your own stories and characters, people! – but most people are more forgiving about it. Sounds like they might like this.