It is a truth pretty much universally acknowledged that young ones have to be dragged to the classics. I am happy to report that The Rep’s holiday offering of Pride & Prejudice is worth the effort, both for those familiar with the work and those who give the title a blank stare.
Director Hana S. Sharif has gone for approachable rather than reverent and, like all great works (Shakespeare set in the Twenties, anyone?), P&P can take a fair amount of creative interpretation. Here, Sharif ups the tempo and goes for the fun, a nice contrast to the imaginative, seemingly very formal set from Scott Bradley. The projections of Alex Basco Koch during scene changes bring things right into the 21st Century.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet (Michael James Reed and Michelle Hand) have four daughters and because of the terms of the will by which Mr. Bennet inherited their home, when he dies, the survivors will be evicted. (This is in early 19th-Century England, you understand.) The necessity of finding husbands, and perhaps more importantly, suitable husbands, for the young women is heavy upon Mrs. Bennet’s mind. Mr. Bennet is seemingly less driven, because he enjoys his girls so much.
Novels were longer in those days – attention spans were longer and there were fewer amusements in those days before electric power – so it’s unsurprising that the plot is a little complex by modern standards. Nevertheless, Christopher Baker’s adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel does well by that. The main character is the second daughter, Elizabeth Bennet (Katie Kleiger), a rather spirited (by the very restrictive standards of the day) young woman who quickly takes a dislike to elder sister Jane (Rebecca Haden)’s new swain’s best friend, Mr. Darcy (Nick Rehberger). We, of course, can see the figurative stardust falling from the sky as they meet, but it’s in a delayed-release capsule. Younger sister Lydia (Sydney Leiser) is swept away by a military company that’s barracked nearby, and eventually with one of their number, a Mr. Wickham (Stephen Michael Spencer), who does a mysteriously fast exit when the aforementioned Mr. Darcy appears. There’s also the heir to the house, Mr. Colllins (Blake Segal), who comes wife-shopping as an act of charity so that he can get a wife and perhaps save one of the girls’ situations there. It would be an act of desperation on any of the girls’ parts; Collins, a Church of England priest, is the very picture of self-satisfaction, a social snob up-sucking to his richest parishioner, Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Lizan Mitchell).
Original music for the show has been composed by Nathan A. Roberts and Charles Coes, with choreography from Ron Todorowsky. The latter is certainly a take on the dance of the time, while the music is often more contemporary, a nice and unexpected update.
There’s excellent ensemble work from all, including some superb adlibbing from Michelle Hand as a sofa collapsed under her during opening night’s first act. Watching Kleiger and Rehberger’s verbal fencing is a pleasure, and if we are going for broader work than Austin’s always admirable sense of irony, we can revel in Segal’s Collins and his revered patroness, Lizan Mitchel.
A good time is had by all. Except, perhaps, by that sofa – which had recovered by the second act, quick work by the professionals backstage. A number of young, perhaps first-time, theater-goers in attendance seemed to have had a good time as well. May their number increase.
Pride & Prejudice
through December 29
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
130 Edgar Rd., Webster Groves
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