Pride & Prejudice

Period pieces can be a challenge as societies wrestle with concepts of a bygone age and a style of language much different to the current day.  I have to say from the start that the cast of Pride and Prejudice caught the style, movement and the language well.  This was carried through to the furniture and props apart from the rather incongruous tall white table down stage left which was out of kilter with everything else and constantly drew the eye. In the main the pace was good but occasional dialogue issues caused it to drop in places. 

This version of the play has eight or nine different settings and twenty scenes so presented a challenge for designer Alan Kenney who met it head on with flats which unfolded to present another home, flats which swivelled to show trees or landscapes and two large painted backgrounds. Impressive and certainly set the rather small stage crew a challenge more than once.  The lighting design (Andy Burrell) was excellent with only one noticeable blip. Sound (Mike Bernard) was good, cues were minimal but always on time. I would, however, have preferred the intro music to have been shorter. Unusually for a play the cast used body mics which I would not  have thought were necessary, although they were well managed with only one causing a problem which was swiftly dealt with.  The costume team went for a recognisable Jane Austen style and it looked good, especially the officers’ uniforms which were splendid. There were some lovely hairstyles for the ladies too which were also in period.

On the acting front, a sprinkle of humour came from Mrs Bennet beautifully portrayed by Mandy Turpin. Mandy gave us a delightful, light-hearted lady who henpecked her husband – played stoically by Lesley Wheeler – and ensured her family were always at the forefront when a possible husband was to be found.  The Bennets’ five daughters all individually did well. Jess Turpin as the studious Mary was in stark contrast to the more lively Lydia (Hannah Whiffin) - who was eventually to fall prey to the chancer Mr Wickham (Harry Ashby); the excitable Catherine (Kitty) played by Maisy-May Gilhart, and Amy Carson created a believable Jane who eventually found love with Mr Bingley (Chris Greenaway) despite the disapproval of his sister Miss Caroline Bingley nicely  crafted by Yasmin Asassa.

The main protagonists in the play, though, are the fifth daughter, Elizabeth played by Kirsty Jackson-Smillie and of course Mr Darcy played by Jack Stinton. The relationship between these two is the real essence of the piece.   Also called upon to keep us up with the story, Kirsty beautifully created a believable character who was both feisty and bold, an excellent portrayal.  Darcy however is a much harder nut to crack. Jack showed the correct amount of arrogance at the start but as the aloof romantic man of mystery I would have liked him to have obviously mellowed and shown a little more distinction between the private Mr Darcy as he became enamoured with Elizabeth and his well honed public persona.

I enjoyed Chas Barclay’s interpretation of Mr Collins, a most pompous and unlikeable character. He made us squirm as he first tried to woo Elizabeth, managed to wed Charlotte Lucas – sympathetically played by Sheena Harris – and grovelled for the attention of anyone he considered useful, particularly the uncompromising Lady Catherine De Bourgh (Tessa Kilvington-Shaw). It would have been easy to have overplayed the humour possible with a caricature such as Mr Collins, but for me Chas got his interpretation right.  There isn’t space here to mention everyone individually, but rest assured that everyone got into character and contributed fully to supporting the principal players.

It was nice to see the production so well attended and I am sure The Over Players and first time Director Steve Creighton were very pleased with the opening night performance presenting a charming version of this obviously much-loved story.

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