Embrace the hijinks and hysterics of Pride & Prejudice, by Kate Hamill, until April 26th at Gateway Theatre in Richmond.
If Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice is a novel of manners, think of Kate Hamill’s adaptation as a comedy of ill manners. All the requisite ingredients are present for a classic Austen country house drama; lavish costumes by Alaia Hamer and simple but effective sets by Sophie Tang. However, Hamill has thrown in added comedic sense and sensibility, with direction by Scott Bellis exaggerating some of the most egregious aspects of Georgian English class-culture. Add in blatantly comedic overacting, Shakespearean cross-dressing, quick changes, send ups of other Austen adaptations and you’ve got a recipe for laughter.
On opening night there was plenty of giggles as the audience was allowed to pry into the comings and goings of the Bennet Family of Longbourn estate and their associates. Keeping up with the Bennets in the love and marriage game is a trying affair. ‘Momager’ Mrs. Bennet (Anita Wittenberg) tries her best to marry any of her daughters to save the family from ruin. In addition to dealing Mrs. Bennet’s histrionics, with no son, Mr. Bennet (Greg Armstrong-Morris) must also contend with an entail requiring their estate to go to a male heir outside of their immediate family.
Contestants in the game of marriage are beautiful but indecisive eldest daughter Jane (Merewyn Comeau), flibbertigibbet youngest Lydia (Melissa Oei), ungainly, sickly Mary (a cross-dressing Rem Murray) and headstrong Lizzy (Kate Besworth). Lizzy is stubbornly against marriage, or has she just not met the right match? The dashing bachelors up for grabs are happy go lucky Mr Bingley (also played by Rem Murray) who resides in neighbouring country house with his snobbish sister Miss Bingley (Dylan Floyde, another cross-dressing) and the very eligible but socially awkward Mr Darcy (Chris Walters). Other contenders are gallant (so it seems) Mr Wickham (also Dylan Floyde) and smarmy distant cousin Mr. Collins (Dylan Floyde, again) who stands to inherit the Bennet estate.
If you can keep track of all those characters, a few more are thrown in to play but no more players, the Bennet’s good friend Charlotte (also Greg Armstrong-Morris), Collins’ benefactor Lady de Bourgh (Merewyn Comeau, playing the forthright opposite of Jane), her spooky, spinster daughter Catherine (also Melissa Oei). Anita Wittenberg swings from the in-your-face Mrs. Bennet to the seen-not-heard servants. Leaving Kate Besworth and Chris Walters to bring their central characters fully to life. As the production advances, and more of the characters are introduced, the pace of the quick-changes brings about more slapstick moments.
Such familiar source material allows this Pride & Prejudice to speed through the storyline with the wild abandon, bawdy-humour and double-entendres of a bedroom farce made more striking coming from such a button-downed era. Decades of beloved adaptations makes almost certain that the audience can fill in any blanks of the storyline allowing writer Hamill, and director Bellis to take liberties with editing the storyline and staging of the production. If you’re expecting a faithful, dramatic adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, this probably isn’t for you. If you’re open to turning tradition on its head and having a jolly, good time at the theatre, Kate Hamill’s Pride & Prejudice will be your cup of tea.
Pride & Prejudice, by Kate Hamill, runs until April 26th, presented in English with Traditional and Simplified Chinese surtitles, at Gateway Theatre, 6500 Gilbert Road, Richmond.
Find show details and tickets online at gatewaytheatre.com