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Dailyrecord.com, October 15, 2006
Her 'Pride' is showing
Troupe's director adapts Jane Austen
BY MEREDITH NAPOLITANO
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY RECORD
For the simple-minded, relationships seem to work out without any fuss. Others have to work for them, sometimes going through deep swamp-like searching to finally arrive at that place of raw surrender where two really become one.
Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" examines this journey. Starting Tuesday, Bonnie J. Monte, artistic director of The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in Madison, will stage her self-adapted world premiere of the romantic classic that seems so timeless.
After an initial misconceived first impression, Elizabeth Bennett (played by the theater's rising star, Victoria Mack) and Fitzwilliam Darcy (Marcus Dean Fuller) are forced to acknowledge and reckon with their simultaneous repulsions and attractions to each other that ultimately make them an extraordinary couple.
"These are two people who are highly self-examining and unusual," director Monte said. "It is only through the process of self-assessment that transformation is possible. Then the door opens to each other and they are enlightened."
That is, through an intense year of thinking about their own behaviors as individuals and toward each other, they are ultimately able to let go of the aspects of their pride and prejudice that do not serve them.
"They cannot be happy until they go through this year-long process that allows for shifts in perspectives. What makes them unusual and outstanding is that there are very few people in life willing to go through this process," Monte said.
Most will give up and get out of the situation to avoid dealing with it. These people deal with it.
"This is at the top of the list as the most challenging thing I have ever done," Monte said. Adapting the dense, rich 400-page novel; sustaining and maintaining Austen's flavor; handling the 44 changes of location; getting it to flow, and restructuring it as a drama has been a large task.
"It has truly been an extraordinary experience, a specific detailed process I love. And when you hit it right, and you know it, it is phenomenal," Monte said.
Since Monte's goal is letting the characters tell the story, she has assembled a cast with deep connections to Austen's work.
Fuller makes his Shakespeare Theatre debut playing Mr. Darcy. Having had five sisters himself, Fuller said he was an undercover Jane Austen fan growing up.
"With Mr. Darcy, I remember thinking, 'That's me,'" said the self-professed shy yet passionate actor. "The man hasn't been given the tools to act emotionally. He tends to react and is thus misunderstood."
Darcy, though he is able to function well in society, is prone to a quiet observation that makes people think he is aloof.
Fuller commented on his own identification with this fear of scaring people off.
"I tend to feel emotions profoundly and am always afraid of insulting people, so sometimes I say nothing.
"And once you open your mouth and say something, you are not in charge of how it is perceived," he added.
The first impression he makes on Elizabeth Bennett, which he describes as "a flirtation gone wrong," is the basis for their relationship. The romance here is a meeting of the minds, not a love at first sight, but rather a certain hate at first sight. It is about a man who overlooks his soul mate because he thinks she's beneath him and a woman who can't accept him as he is.
Mack, who previously starred in "As You Like It,""Pygmalion" and "Of Mice and Men"at the theater, plays Elizabeth Bennett, a woman ahead of her time who won't settle for a traditional relationship -- at first.
"She doesn't like her parents'marriage; she thinks its awful that her father married a silly woman," Mack said. She knows there is something else to be found with someone.
"The thing that appeals to me most is that Elizabeth isn't the beauty of the family. Her personality makes her the romantic heroine, not her looks. That's much more exciting to play. She is so unafraid of herself."
As an actress, Mack talked about how tremendously exciting is has been "to use everything I can possibly do onstage,"and professed to be a huge Jane Austen fan. At age 10, Mack recalls getting the book for a present.
"It transformed me. I didn't know someone had imagined someone so smart, witty and clever. Austen's verbal dexterity is shocking. Elizabeth always says the right thing at the right time," she said.
"It is a very grown up romance, and it is not easy. The idea of meeting someone and not being able to stand them and then having that ignite a lasting chemistry is very true to life,"Mack said.
"At first they don't know enough about each other,"Fuller said. At the party where they meet, Fuller said, Mr. Darcy has a preconceived notion that there is no one there who is going to please him. But by the end of the story everything gets stripped away and they can speak to each other as humans.
David Andrew MacDonald, a six-year veteran from TV's "Guiding Light" soap opera, also stars in the play, as Mr. Wickham, the cousin of Mr. Darcy, who was never given the education or opportunities of Darcy and tries to dissuade Elizabeth from liking him. A Julliard graduate, and stage veteran, MacDonald is excited to return to the stage after the soap.
"I really miss it. And the wonderful thing about this play is that there is very little black and white," he said.
MacDonald said he spends the majority of his time onstage charming the pants off women, and admitted his character has a social addiction.
"Wickham is all appetite, and will do anything to turn people against Darcy."
Monte says the idea to do the play was actually brought up by her stage manager, who suggested adapting a classic novel for the purpose of the student matinee series in the fall.
"You can't do 'Hamlet' or 'Romeo and Juliet' every year. We figured this one would really serve everyone else as well,"Monte said.
Ellie
Dailyrecord.com, October 15, 2006
Her 'Pride' is showing
Troupe's director adapts Jane Austen
BY MEREDITH NAPOLITANO
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY RECORD
For the simple-minded, relationships seem to work out without any fuss. Others have to work for them, sometimes going through deep swamp-like searching to finally arrive at that place of raw surrender where two really become one.
Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" examines this journey. Starting Tuesday, Bonnie J. Monte, artistic director of The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in Madison, will stage her self-adapted world premiere of the romantic classic that seems so timeless.
After an initial misconceived first impression, Elizabeth Bennett (played by the theater's rising star, Victoria Mack) and Fitzwilliam Darcy (Marcus Dean Fuller) are forced to acknowledge and reckon with their simultaneous repulsions and attractions to each other that ultimately make them an extraordinary couple.
"These are two people who are highly self-examining and unusual," director Monte said. "It is only through the process of self-assessment that transformation is possible. Then the door opens to each other and they are enlightened."
That is, through an intense year of thinking about their own behaviors as individuals and toward each other, they are ultimately able to let go of the aspects of their pride and prejudice that do not serve them.
"They cannot be happy until they go through this year-long process that allows for shifts in perspectives. What makes them unusual and outstanding is that there are very few people in life willing to go through this process," Monte said.
Most will give up and get out of the situation to avoid dealing with it. These people deal with it.
"This is at the top of the list as the most challenging thing I have ever done," Monte said. Adapting the dense, rich 400-page novel; sustaining and maintaining Austen's flavor; handling the 44 changes of location; getting it to flow, and restructuring it as a drama has been a large task.
"It has truly been an extraordinary experience, a specific detailed process I love. And when you hit it right, and you know it, it is phenomenal," Monte said.
Since Monte's goal is letting the characters tell the story, she has assembled a cast with deep connections to Austen's work.
Fuller makes his Shakespeare Theatre debut playing Mr. Darcy. Having had five sisters himself, Fuller said he was an undercover Jane Austen fan growing up.
"With Mr. Darcy, I remember thinking, 'That's me,'" said the self-professed shy yet passionate actor. "The man hasn't been given the tools to act emotionally. He tends to react and is thus misunderstood."
Darcy, though he is able to function well in society, is prone to a quiet observation that makes people think he is aloof.
Fuller commented on his own identification with this fear of scaring people off.
"I tend to feel emotions profoundly and am always afraid of insulting people, so sometimes I say nothing.
"And once you open your mouth and say something, you are not in charge of how it is perceived," he added.
The first impression he makes on Elizabeth Bennett, which he describes as "a flirtation gone wrong," is the basis for their relationship. The romance here is a meeting of the minds, not a love at first sight, but rather a certain hate at first sight. It is about a man who overlooks his soul mate because he thinks she's beneath him and a woman who can't accept him as he is.
Mack, who previously starred in "As You Like It,""Pygmalion" and "Of Mice and Men"at the theater, plays Elizabeth Bennett, a woman ahead of her time who won't settle for a traditional relationship -- at first.
"She doesn't like her parents'marriage; she thinks its awful that her father married a silly woman," Mack said. She knows there is something else to be found with someone.
"The thing that appeals to me most is that Elizabeth isn't the beauty of the family. Her personality makes her the romantic heroine, not her looks. That's much more exciting to play. She is so unafraid of herself."
As an actress, Mack talked about how tremendously exciting is has been "to use everything I can possibly do onstage,"and professed to be a huge Jane Austen fan. At age 10, Mack recalls getting the book for a present.
"It transformed me. I didn't know someone had imagined someone so smart, witty and clever. Austen's verbal dexterity is shocking. Elizabeth always says the right thing at the right time," she said.
"It is a very grown up romance, and it is not easy. The idea of meeting someone and not being able to stand them and then having that ignite a lasting chemistry is very true to life,"Mack said.
"At first they don't know enough about each other,"Fuller said. At the party where they meet, Fuller said, Mr. Darcy has a preconceived notion that there is no one there who is going to please him. But by the end of the story everything gets stripped away and they can speak to each other as humans.
David Andrew MacDonald, a six-year veteran from TV's "Guiding Light" soap opera, also stars in the play, as Mr. Wickham, the cousin of Mr. Darcy, who was never given the education or opportunities of Darcy and tries to dissuade Elizabeth from liking him. A Julliard graduate, and stage veteran, MacDonald is excited to return to the stage after the soap.
"I really miss it. And the wonderful thing about this play is that there is very little black and white," he said.
MacDonald said he spends the majority of his time onstage charming the pants off women, and admitted his character has a social addiction.
"Wickham is all appetite, and will do anything to turn people against Darcy."
Monte says the idea to do the play was actually brought up by her stage manager, who suggested adapting a classic novel for the purpose of the student matinee series in the fall.
"You can't do 'Hamlet' or 'Romeo and Juliet' every year. We figured this one would really serve everyone else as well,"Monte said.
Ellie
