Theater Review: Pride and Prejudice rises above source material with good performances

By: Stephen Greenwell

Posted: 4/24/07

04/24/07 - Strong performances by Kristen Casey, Joseph Kidawski, Leah Kolb and Nick Foehr brighten an otherwise wordy adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Saturday night at Will Theatre.

The problem when evaluating Pride and Prejudice is its 19th century setting and lack of action. As a conventional and somewhat stereotypical college student, I am used to fast-paced television shows and flashy, exploding things in movies.

Unfortunately for me, Pride and Prejudice is dominated by speaking parts. Portions of these parts are interesting, even to my TV-riddled mind, but they are equally tedious. In a two and a half hour play, it is impossible to keep the entire thing interesting when it is all speaking parts.

I blame Austen. Yes, she might have been a classic author, and I'm just some lowly reviewer at a campus newspaper, but my journalistic mind screams that a good portion of the novel could have been condensed for the play. A modernization (i.e. what Ten Things I Hate About You was to Taming of the Shrew) or spoof would have also been more compelling for a college-aged audience than a traditional adaptation.

But I'm going to be the bigger person right now and put these unpleasantries behind me. If you're unfamiliar with the basics of the play going in, as I was, Pride and Prejudice is a romantic comedy (more emphasis on the romance) about the courtship of Elizabeth Bennet (Casey).

Elizabeth is an attractive, intelligent young woman who must deal with the various suitors after her. They range from the incorrigible Mr. Darcy (Patrick Cullen) to the sleazy preacher and cousin Mr. Collins (Ahmed Bharoocha) to a noble military man, Mr. Wickham (Kyle Blanchette). During the play, Elizabeth must learn the true intentions of each man.

The other theme of the play deals with the effect of gossip in Victorian times. While this seems a boring topic, the supporting cast keeps these scenes appropriately light or serious. There is also a side story about the courtship between Elizabeth's sister Jane (Elyssa Baldassarri) and the rich Mr. Bingley (Kidawski).

Casey shines in the leading role, showing equal amounts of emotion, wit and affection. Elizabeth is a complicated character, as she is an independent woman in a not-so independent setting for woman, and Casey plays her with an appropriate amount of class.

Likewise, Foehr steals scenes as Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth's father. He plays the character with a perfect amount of dry humor and sarcasm, and it nicely complements the bombast of Elizabeth's mother (Leah Kolb). Kidawski also provides some needed comic relief; Mr. Bingley is quite taken by Jane, which leads to awkwardly funny exchanges, like a seventh grader courting his first girlfriend.

However, do not take this as an admonishment of the rest of the cast. Simply put, it is hard for the actors cast in the "plain" roles to really excel.

Cullen and Blanchette are good as Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham respectively, but the play does not provide them much to work with. It is hard to be interesting and compelling if your character mainly exists as a foil for others. Darcy and Wickham do not have many "zingers" in their dialogue, as opposed to the other leads.

The exception is Erin Condry, who does double duty as the conniving Miss Bingley and Elizabeth's aunt, Mrs. Gardiner. As Bingley, Condry infuses attitude into what little speaking lines she has; she comes off as such a heinous, snotty bitch, which is perfect for the character. Her performance is so convincing that it is hard to believe she also plays the supportive Gardiner, who frequently offers support to Elizabeth.

If I had to give Pride and Prejudice a score on the ole 10-scale, I'd tentatively give it a seven. The work of the student actors in the play is admirable, but it still can't elevate the play past the somewhat slow source material.