I trust you have surmised by this point that this is not your grandmother’s Pride and Prejudice. Bennett (the gifted comic actress Elena Alexandratos) pump her girls up before each ball with a cheerleading-style chant: “Chest and bum and eyes and smiles/ Catch that man with female wiles!” ![]() Lest we forget what, precisely, is for sale in this market, we see Mrs. Hamill pulls that thread as well: for her Lizzy, the marriage market resembles nothing so much as a game, with “rules, strategies, wins, losses … theoretically, done for pleasure,” all arranged by overly anxious mamas on the basis of financial and social-climbing considerations. ![]() I know I need not remind you, dear sophisticated Reader, that the pleasure in reading Austen primarily derives not from her romantic plots – delectable as those film versions of her novels, with their wet-shirted heros, may be – but rather from her subersively ironic depiction of women’s limited options within a patriarchal social system. Hamill in referring to Pride and Prejudice as a confection. Photo Michael Henninger, courtesy Pittsburgh Public Theater.īut I do a disservice to both Ms. These character attributions function like the dash of salt on a gourmet chocolate chip cookie, enhancing the enjoyment of an already excellent and beloved confection by updating it for a modern palate.Īndrew William Smith (as Mary Bennett). Collins (Chris Richards) is “the original Mansplainer” or her inspiration to have both the supercilious Caroline Bingley and the ungainly and unmarriageably bookish Mary Bennett played by male actors (Richards and Smith, respectively). Bingley (Andrew William Smith), who “sees the best in everyone,” as an eager and easily distracted puppy dog or her insight that the odious Mr. ![]() Take, for example, her choice to figure the amiable Mr. Indeed, Hamill is a perspicacious reader of Austen, and her translation of the text into a theatrical idiom offers a slew of surprises even for those audience members (guilty as charged!) who would be in a position to fill in lines of dialogue given too long a pause in the action. L to R: Emma Mercier, Simone Recasner, Ashley Bufkin photo Michael Henninger, courtesy Pittsburgh Public Theater
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |