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THEATER REVIEW
This "Pride" is polite, but a bit too precious
Home News Tribune Online 10/26/06
By C.W. WALKER
CORRESPONDENT
Charlotte Bronte compared Jane Austen's work unfavorably to a "carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden" while Ralph Waldo Emerson famously complained that the life depicted in Austen's novels was "pinched and narrow" and that the only real interests of the characters was money and marriage. On the other hand, Edmund Wilson proclaimed Austen one of the six greatest English writers and more recently, literary critic Harold Bloom compared her to Shakespeare.
Whether Wilson and Bloom were overstating the case or folks like Emerson and Bronte were merely underestimating Austen's genius, one thing's for sure: Austen's fans are legion and her novels have been re-read, re-interpreted and re-imagined for stage and screen again and again.
So it's perfectly understandable why The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at Drew University in Madison would want to bring a crowd pleaser like "Pride and Prejudice" to its stage. Bonnie J. Monte, better known as the theater's artistic director, has created yet another adaptation (she also directs), one which strives to preserve as many of Austen's words as possible. Unfortunately, this new version adds no new insights or excitement to the original work.
Michael Schweikardt's set is pretty and delicate as a watercolor, but the walls and windows move about like a handful of the same cards continuously shuffled, making it hard to distinguish one locale from another. Kim Gill's costumes, a sea of beige and pale gold satins, blend together so that the sharp class distinctions that are vital to Austen's vision of the characters are so minimized as to be virtually lost. The result is polite and mannerly and a little too precious: Austen, certainly, but domesticated and without the bite.
For the one or two people left on the planet who don't know the story, "Pride and Prejudice" concerns the Bennet family and the pursuit of proper mates for three of the five daughters. For the oldest, pretty, even-tempered Jane (Nisi Sturgis), it's a simple matter: one look at Mr. Bingley (Sean Mahan), the Bennets' wealthy, good-natured neighbor, and it's love at first sight. The same cannot be said for the sharp-tongued second sister Elizabeth (Victoria Mack) and Bingley's best friend, the haughty Mr. Darcy (Marcus Dean Fuller).
Their relationship is far more combative, more Beatrice and Benedict than Romeo and Juliet. And then, of course, there's third sister Lydia (Gardner Reed), who apparently has never met a man in a uniform she didn't like. This is the sort of girl who's bound to give her parents more than a few gray hairs, so it's not all together surprising when she's easily seduced by the handsome but duplicitous Mr. Wickham (David Andrew MacDonald).
Will Mr. Bingley be able to put aside their class differences to marry Jane, his one true love? Will Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy move past their pride and prejudices and recognize their obvious affection and respect for one another? Will Lydia be rescued from certain ruin? Really, is there any doubt?
That love will triumph over all obstacles is what makes "Pride and Prejudice" such a perennial favorite among smart young women. If an independently minded bookworm like Elizabeth Bennet can still snag a popular King of the Prom like Darcy, there's hope for us all.
Of course, Austen was up to much more than merely a happily-ever-after scenario, but the results of her keen wit and observant eye are somewhat muted in this production.
The mature characters fair better than the young. Edmond Genest effectively captures Mr. Bennet's resigned distance and sarcastic humor. Monique Fowler, who provided such a hilarious Mrs. Malaprop earlier this season in "The Rivals," also does justice here to the clueless Mrs. Bennet, determined to see her daughters married no matter what the cost. Elizabeth Shepherd as Darcy's aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, is so formidable she's almost scary, and Michael Stewart Allen as her Ladyship's toadying neighbor, Mr. Collins, is suitably obnoxious.
As for the destined lovers, Mack and Fuller spar appropriately but with few genuine sparks between them. Sturgis and Mahan are sweet and MacDonald is dashing, but Reed as Lydia appears far too old and worldly-wise for the role.
Ellie
THEATER REVIEW
This "Pride" is polite, but a bit too precious
Home News Tribune Online 10/26/06
By C.W. WALKER
CORRESPONDENT
Charlotte Bronte compared Jane Austen's work unfavorably to a "carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden" while Ralph Waldo Emerson famously complained that the life depicted in Austen's novels was "pinched and narrow" and that the only real interests of the characters was money and marriage. On the other hand, Edmund Wilson proclaimed Austen one of the six greatest English writers and more recently, literary critic Harold Bloom compared her to Shakespeare.
Whether Wilson and Bloom were overstating the case or folks like Emerson and Bronte were merely underestimating Austen's genius, one thing's for sure: Austen's fans are legion and her novels have been re-read, re-interpreted and re-imagined for stage and screen again and again.
So it's perfectly understandable why The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at Drew University in Madison would want to bring a crowd pleaser like "Pride and Prejudice" to its stage. Bonnie J. Monte, better known as the theater's artistic director, has created yet another adaptation (she also directs), one which strives to preserve as many of Austen's words as possible. Unfortunately, this new version adds no new insights or excitement to the original work.
Michael Schweikardt's set is pretty and delicate as a watercolor, but the walls and windows move about like a handful of the same cards continuously shuffled, making it hard to distinguish one locale from another. Kim Gill's costumes, a sea of beige and pale gold satins, blend together so that the sharp class distinctions that are vital to Austen's vision of the characters are so minimized as to be virtually lost. The result is polite and mannerly and a little too precious: Austen, certainly, but domesticated and without the bite.
For the one or two people left on the planet who don't know the story, "Pride and Prejudice" concerns the Bennet family and the pursuit of proper mates for three of the five daughters. For the oldest, pretty, even-tempered Jane (Nisi Sturgis), it's a simple matter: one look at Mr. Bingley (Sean Mahan), the Bennets' wealthy, good-natured neighbor, and it's love at first sight. The same cannot be said for the sharp-tongued second sister Elizabeth (Victoria Mack) and Bingley's best friend, the haughty Mr. Darcy (Marcus Dean Fuller).
Their relationship is far more combative, more Beatrice and Benedict than Romeo and Juliet. And then, of course, there's third sister Lydia (Gardner Reed), who apparently has never met a man in a uniform she didn't like. This is the sort of girl who's bound to give her parents more than a few gray hairs, so it's not all together surprising when she's easily seduced by the handsome but duplicitous Mr. Wickham (David Andrew MacDonald).
Will Mr. Bingley be able to put aside their class differences to marry Jane, his one true love? Will Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy move past their pride and prejudices and recognize their obvious affection and respect for one another? Will Lydia be rescued from certain ruin? Really, is there any doubt?
That love will triumph over all obstacles is what makes "Pride and Prejudice" such a perennial favorite among smart young women. If an independently minded bookworm like Elizabeth Bennet can still snag a popular King of the Prom like Darcy, there's hope for us all.
Of course, Austen was up to much more than merely a happily-ever-after scenario, but the results of her keen wit and observant eye are somewhat muted in this production.
The mature characters fair better than the young. Edmond Genest effectively captures Mr. Bennet's resigned distance and sarcastic humor. Monique Fowler, who provided such a hilarious Mrs. Malaprop earlier this season in "The Rivals," also does justice here to the clueless Mrs. Bennet, determined to see her daughters married no matter what the cost. Elizabeth Shepherd as Darcy's aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, is so formidable she's almost scary, and Michael Stewart Allen as her Ladyship's toadying neighbor, Mr. Collins, is suitably obnoxious.
As for the destined lovers, Mack and Fuller spar appropriately but with few genuine sparks between them. Sturgis and Mahan are sweet and MacDonald is dashing, but Reed as Lydia appears far too old and worldly-wise for the role.
Ellie
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