Review: Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) at Buxton Opera House

“…a whirlwind of a show…Genuinely hilarious…”

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) by Isobel McArthur, Buxton Opera House

By Phil Scown

“It is a truth universally acknowledged…” You probably know the rest. Austen’s novel has been given a modern make-over. The Bennet house is not decorated as one might expect of a well-ordered Regency-period house, it is ‘girly-pink’. The walls, the stairs, the books, and even the swags and tails around Buxton’s proscenium arch, are pink. There is harpsichord music filling the gilt and plaster auditorium of Buxton Opera House, which seems entirely appropriate for a Regency play. It soon becomes clear that this production will be a comedy, possibly a farce. The Bennet housemaids set about cleaning the set, wearing rubber gloves and armed with a feather duster. When they foray into the stalls any gentlemen who are follicly challenged should be wary.

The plot is Austen’s. There are five Bennet girls to be married off. Mrs Bennet despairs. A wealthy bachelor moves into the neighbourhood, Mr Bingley. His even wealthier friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, visits, and so the action really begins. This is not a modernised production of Pride and Prejudice in the same way that, say, Shakespeare’s Macbeth is sometimes modernised. Pride and Prejudice (sort of) is beyond mere modern clothes and relocation to Manchester’s Moss Side. In fact, the period costumes are retained, the characters are retained, but the language is somewhat different. There are many more expletives in this production than in the published text on which the play is based, though who knows what was in Austen’s very first handwritten draft? Isobel McArthur wrote the play and directs it, both to her credit.

The cast of five (Georgia May Firth, Eva Hope, Phoebe Marshall, Roxanne Morgan, and Julia Murray) play all of the roles – all of them! Which means a special commendation must go to the Costume Department (Ana Inés Jabares-Pita) for the construction of costumes supporting so many rapid changes. Excellent work. The cracking pace, and the cast’s apparent joy in the performance, hides what must have been a great deal of painstaking work. The physical and spoken comedy that results is perfectly timed.

Elizabeth (Georgia May Firth) and Darcy (Julia Murray) make a great pair. There seems to be a genuine spark, with very, very funny moments. Elizabeth also has a great rebuttal for the excruciatingly boring Reverend Collins. Both Austen and not Austen, simultaneously. ‘Funny’ doesn’t do it justice.

The musical numbers are familiar to us. Stand-outs for me are I Need a Hero, Lady in Red, with Lady Catherine de Bourgh as the evil red witch, and I Think I Love You, sung by Darcy. I am reminded of the singing that takes place in another retelling of the old story in Bridget Jones’s Diary, though the singing tonight is much better. When the actors sing together there is girl-band choreography we all recognise.

If you read the original work as a comedy, then this is an upgrade to Austen 2.0. There are some ‘special effects’ that are laugh-out-loud funny. No spoilers here, you’ll have to go and see it. Pride and Prejudice (sort of) has cracking pace and delivery. There is sharp wit, silliness, singing, and rapid physical comedy. It’s a whirlwind of a show. I smiled, laughed at unexpected gags, and came out of Buxton Opera House still smiling. Genuinely hilarious.

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) plays at Buxton Opera House until Saturday 10 October. Tickets are available here.

Phil Scown has been a regular theatre-goer since his student days many years ago. Mysteries, thrillers, ghost stories, comedies and musicals are all part of his theatre diet. Phil writes short stories in a variety of genres, some of which have become screenplays. He likes to tour England, Scotland and France, nowadays by car rather than motorcycle. At other times Phil likes to cook and to drive his Caterham, though generally not at the same time.