THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
What makes for exceptional theater? When you wake up the next day and the characters are still playing in your head and you want more. The play's name Pride and Prejudice (Sort Of) gives you a clue but I still rather expected period finery with plumy accents but what we got was the cast of five in nightgowns with Dr Marten boots, singing karaoke style to tunes such as Elvis Costello's 'Everyday I Write the Book'. I had to acquiesce to the fact that we will be watching a departure from the traditional, and an interpretation with outrageous liberties.
Can brilliance take time to sink in? It does take a bit to catch the rhythm but once you do, the fun begins. My plus one, a cultured and educated smarty pants, started in with the eye rolling and I prayed that she would be seduced or it would be a long night. Her mood brightened when we spied the illustrious Stephen Fry fixedly gazing over the Dress Circle intensely absorbing every subtlety with intermittent hilarity.
Incontrovertibly, there is no substitute for good casting and comedic timing which is what P&PSO has in spades. The Five were a tight ensemble who knew their work inside and out with lots of props and effects that could easily go wrong but it went off without a hitch. How did Isobel McArthur, who is so young, have such worldly talent to write, co-direct and act in a play? She made a good choice in teaming with accomplished producer David Pugh. He thoughtfully selected the Criterion Theatre for its intimacy and it appeared that The Five didn't wear body-mics yet were perfectly audible. Pugh also demanded that all seats be reasonably priced at £9.50 to £59.50 and no premium seats. Also noteworthy, the charming actor Toby Jones was sat on our row and he had performed in David Pugh's production of The Play What I Wrote 20 years ago.
This play is un-categorizable, not comparable to anything in the West End at the moment, which is wholly refreshing. With all the canceling and hyper-reactivity to banter and raillery, it was delightful to see high-wit and clever comicality. In Jane Austen's novels the quick and acidic tongued are revered and here the dialogue, timing and delivery had to be without fail. Indeed it was. If felt good to laugh freely, with coded jokes about the class system, reputations and struggles of getting on with family still very relevant.
This Christmas season, go see P&PSO, it might be the smartest thing you do. Just as Lady Catherine de Bourgh was wheeled out, take your Nan, your mum, your eye-rolling friend and laugh like a drain because we all need it. I left the Criterion full-hearted but inconclusive if I loved it… but I wouldn't be opposed to seeing it again to pick up some of the humorous bits that I missed.
As Jane Austen herself said in Pride and Prejudice, “Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can.”
Funniest bit – Mr Bennett's cameo.
Actress Meghan Tyler who played Elizabeth, has flavors of American actress Emma Stone.
The Five should carry on together – they are a Tour de Force.
The second half was more enjoyable.
Some moments felt like Panto including audience participation.
