A delightful evening in the Regency era is upon you.
TheatreWorks is introducing a play of romance, comedy and family drama to local audiences at the Lucie Stern Theatre for one last time this weekend with four of the five Bennet sisters from Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice” in the sequel “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley.” In this play, the Bennet sisters are invited to a Christmas party at Elizabeth (Kausar Mohammed) and Fitzwilliam Darcy’s (Adam Griffith) Pemberley estate and provide an update of the sisters two years after from where the novel left off.
The sequel was created by Bay Area playwrights Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon and became one of the most performed plays in 2018.
When you watch the play, you feel like you are invited into someone’s home for the holidays. There are many details to get distracted by throughout the performance, from the colorful – probably homemade – wreaths hanging on the walls, the large red-ribboned tree with
ornaments and garland arranged on the table. This special tale really came to life with the decorations, showing how people of the upper class celebrated the holidays.
Although the Darcy relationship was the main focus of “Pride and Prejudice,” this story concnerned Mary Bennet (Elissa Beth Stebbins) and how she approaches marriage, education and self-determination. Stebbins brought out an intelligent portrayal of the character who is more into her books than gossiping about men with her sisters Elizabeth, Jane Bingley (Amanda Pulcini) and Lydia Wickham (Sophie Oda). It was unusual for a woman at the time to be unmarried, but Mary did not care about how people thought of her. We see her talk with passion about her studies of sciences and philosophy and frown upon the trivial topics her sisters brought up.
Mary convinced herself that she did not need a man, but in this story, we learn there is always someone out there for everyone. Arthur De Bourgh (David Toshiro Crane), a cousin of Fitzwilliam Darcy, was invited to the party of the Bennet sisters after finding out he became heir to his aunt Lady Catherine De Bourgh’s fortune. Although Arthur is now a rich man and expected to participate in society as a lord, he is inexperienced in small talk conversation. Crane portrays him as a shy man who hasn’t been exposed to high society before.
Throughout the play, Lydia, the mischievous sister, tries to flirt with Arthur despite her marriage with George Wickham, but there is no denying Arthur and Mary have an organic chemistry ready to be explored. Arthur immediately was drawn in a platonic way to Mary for her intellect and their similar interests.
The audience will have a great time watching this play with the beautiful gowns and eccentric personalities of the sisters who try to get into each other’s business. Any tale from this period will show you a standard view of relationships, but this play reverses the notion that there are many forms of love and if one chooses to pursue their passions instead, it should not be a dissapointment.
For tickets and more information, visit theatreworks.org.
