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PRIDE & PREJUDICE
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by
BRIAN MORTON
February 11 - 17, 2010 |
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A stage adaptation by Christina Calvit of Jane Austen’s second novel, Pride and Prejudice, is Black Box Fire’s only full–length production this year. I am pleased to report that it is a pleasant distillation of the many versions that occupy my memory.
Austen’s classic and timeless story of the rocky courtship between Elizabeth Bennet, a poor gentleman’s daughter with four sisters, and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, a wealthy aristocrat who arrives in Miss Elizabeth’s rural village in 1813, is a classic one that has spawned many adaptations over the years.
Most of us know the iconic 1940 film version with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier; if not that film, then perhaps one of the many BBC television revivals. That it has sunk into modern popular culture is evidenced by the success of the thinly veiled rewrite, Bridget Jones’s Diary, or that fact that as of 2009 there is an alterative history version set in a post–holocaust zombieland called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. (I can inform everyone that no zombies were in evidence in Black Box Fire’s version!).
So what is on offer on stage at the HTI Studio? Well first off, the largest cast that this small independent theatre has ever assembled on stage: a cast of 20, all in Regency period dress, is no small accomplishment for a theatre company.
The leads here are Lauren Repei as plucky Miss Elizabeth and Andrew Huisman as Mr. Darcy, and the whole play really does rest upon their shoulders. Repei has an elegance and soft–spoken voice that entirely suits our intrepid heroine. Huisman, with a tall and powerful presence, has just the right amount of standoffishness, and yet still can be suitably emotional at the play’s denouement.
As in any ensemble piece it is unfair to single people out – many of the best character actors service the play and don’t always stand out. Still, Peter Gruner, A.J. Haygarth, Kathleen Dodd, Brenda Ziemann, Kristi Boulton, Luke Fillion and Andrew Hadden give performances that were a notch above the rest of the fine cast.
BBF founder Stephanie Yantsis directs this production with a sure hand and does an admirable job of keeping all of her actors under control and focused upon the narrative. Her use of the very limited space at
the HTI studio was quite clever and inventive. The period dance especially lent an air of formality to the proceedings.
Having said that, a play such as this desperately needed a larger stage area. By default many of the transitions between scenes became repetitious, as the same bits of furniture got wheeled back and forth. Also, the pacing – in the first act, anyway – got a wee bit slow at times, but still I could not help but be impressed by how much an obvious labour of love this production was for all involved.
Even those unfamiliar with Jane Austen’s oeuvre should find something in this production to appreciate, and university English majors, I promise you, will be in seventh heaven V
[BRIAN MORTON]
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Black Box Fire @ HTI Studio Theatre
To February 13,
Tickets: www.blackboxfire.com
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I saw it. It needed more zombies!
Posted by BGM on February 17, 2010 at 1:49pm | Report this comment
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