Theater review: ?Pride and Prejudice? from Orlando Shakespeare Theater
Michele Vazquez as Elisabeth and Avery Clark as Mr. Darcy in “Pride and Prejudice” from Orlando Shakespeare Theater. (photo by Tony Firriolo)
Jane Austen?s ?Pride and Prejudice,? published in 1813, seasons its tangled relish stories with bigger issues: morals, manners, a lady?s lot in life, and the class distinctions of crop up-of-the-century England.
Adapted for the fake by Jon Jory, the story loses a bit of its sting ? acidic Miss Bingley is more the skilful girl in high school, and the insults to Mrs. Bennet?s manners don?t always mutate as commentary on her inferior social standing.
But what remains are heartfelt laughs, delightful characters and Austen?s delightful copy that takes more twists and turns than a jaunt to ?Peyton Place.?
In the hands of Orlando Shakespeare Theater, superintendent Thomas Ouellette?s clever staging and Eric T. Haugen?s showy lighting keep the tale bubbling along.
The Bennets have five daughters ? all who prerequisite to be married, a mission to which Mrs. Bennet devotes her every waking trice. Daughter Jane is smitten with Mr. Bingley, though he?s of a high-class social class. Daughter Elizabeth is receiving acclaim from cold Mr. Darcy, though she spurns him in favor of unctuous Mr. Wickham.
And daughter Lydia wants any man she can get, though one in a regimental unchangeable is preferred.
Their entanglements, breakups, lies and quandaries are played out on a almost bare stage. Location changes are indicated by rearranging some choice gold-backed chairs and varying the obscurity of lighting ? from warm orange for usual inside in front of a fireplace, to lush grassy for a stroll ? or showdown ? in a garden.
This starkness helps keep the plot of the lengthy narrative moving as does the use of narration, in which characters foresee the audience what has happened to advance the plan to the next big scene. Obviously necessary for reasons of all together, this device still can be a bit jarring. It has the feel of a Harry Around film for those who have read the books ? you?re always hip a subplot, some juicy dialogue, a lesser kind has just been sacrificed for expediency.
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