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A Bennett family portrait. Tafline Steen as Elizabeth with Matthew Kelly as Mr Bennett and Felicity Montagu as Mrs Bennett and Elizabeth's four sisters behind. Pictures: Johan Persson Pride and Prejudice
Birmingham Rep
**** ‘IT
is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of
a good fortune, must be in want of a wife’, and away we go with a
splendid staging of Jane Austen’s much loved novel. Simon Reade’s 2009 adaptation brings out much of
the wit and humour without becoming bogged down in detail which all
helps keep up the pace, helped by a clever setting on a revolve from Max
Jones. A touch of button and a grand Georgian skeletal
crescent of wrought iron style balcony and arches sweeps sedately around
to provide sitting rooms, gardens, ballrooms, stately homes, whatever is
needed, all of which means scenes flow one to the other at a pleasant,
gentle pace. The fine set is a backdrop to some fine
performances led by Felicity Montagu as Mrs Bennett. Mrs Bennett’s main
ambition is to marry off her daughters to suitable men – sui Montagu gives us a larger than life mother, best
described by her husband when he tells his daughters that it is a
comfort that “whatever may befall you have a mother who will make the
most of it”. The most loathed man in the universe is instantly
a paragon of virtue and breeding if he be touched by the merest hint of
matrimony . . . wealth permitting of course.
First in the marriage stakes is Jordan Mifsúd as
Mr Bingley, eminently eligible - i.e. has the required income - who has
rented nearby Netherfield Park, which gives Mrs Bennett a chance to
offload her eldest Jane, played with much promise by Hollie Edwin on her
professional debut. The two hit it off which is more than can be said
of next eldest Elizabeth, played in a delightfully headstrong manner by
Tafline Steen, who produces some lovely telling glances and touches of
humour. The ball at Netherfield is no fun for her and she
positively bristles as Bingley’s friend Fitzwilliam Darcy, played by
Benjamin Dilloway, seems to demean her. Here is a man who turns aloof
into an art form, appearing so superior that even God must look up to
him. So we all know they are going to end up as an
item, she full of wilful independence, he remote, stand-offish and
clumsy and tactless with words – and an income of more than £10,000,
upwards of £800,000 in today’s money,which will keep Mrs Bennett
blissfully happy. Mr Bennett meanwhile, played by the marvellous
Matthew Kelly, is happy most of the time, looking out for his girls
beyond Mrs Bennett’s suitable (£5,000 pa) candidates for marriage. His
asides, pained expression, glances; his attempts to sneak away when
domestic storms are brewing; his support for his daughters, along with
his witty remarks are a pleasure to watch. And he does need to defend them when Mrs Bennett
tries to present Lizzie, or indeed any of her brood, to the obsequious Mr
Collins, played brilliantly by Steven Meo with a mix of superiority to those he
considers below himself – i.e. most of the world - and sycophancy to
those above him - i.e. related to Lady Catherine De Bourgh - in a
gloriously amusing portrayal. Collins is excruciatingly embarrassing, so sure
of himself with
His dividing line between inferior and superior
is the snooty, domineering Lady Catherine, who it seems is as far up the
social tree as you can get without being actual royalty. She is his
patroness, affording him the living as rector on her extensive estate
with an income of some £3,000 a year – which is at the low end, but still
acceptable in Mrs Bennett’s eyes. Doña Croll’s ladyship makes Lady Bracknell look
positively benevolent, wearing her air of privilege and superiority like
a uniform of rank – which all looks a little threadbare when she
confronts Lizzie to tell her she is not to marry Mr Darcy. No one
interferes in Lizzie’s life.
When the Bennett brood turn Collins down he finds
a wife in Lizzie’s friend Charlotte, played by Francesca Bailey, who
sees love, and even happiness, as secondary to a comfortable home –
marriage being infinitely preferable to old maidhood. And we have another baddy in the snobbish
Caroline Bingley, played by Kirsty Rider, who has her eyes on Darcy, so
ridicules Lizzie at every opportunity, and sees Jane as being far
beneath her brother, so does her best to chuck a spanner in that
relationship as well. There is good support from the other sisters,
Anna Crichlow as Kitty, who also plays Georgiana Darcy, Mari Izzard as
Lydia, who elopes with the novel’s cad Mr Wickham, played by Daniel
Abbott and Leigh Quinn as the bookish Mary, who also doubles as the
sickly Annabel De Bourgh, daughter of the domineering Lady Catherine. She was her Ladyship’s designated bride for Darcy
– but the best laid plans of mice, and in this case, matriarch . . . Mark Rawlings is an avuncular Sir William Lucas
father of Charlotte while Charlotte Palmer weighs in as the Bennett
girl’s favourite aunt, Mrs Gardiner. Director Deborah Bruce has kept up a good pace
and the slimmed down narrative of the 1813 novel keeps the strong plot
yet retain’s Austen’s observations on the themes of marriage, status and
class, wealth and female independence. Tina Machugh’s lighting also helps with a stage
wide curved panorama of an autumn woodland scene changing hue to give
subtle emphasis to a changed location. With Tom Piper’s authentic looking costumes, a
slimmed down storyline, and wit and good humour the result is a fresh,
lively, entertaining version of a literary classic - a 200 year-old
modern romantic comedy. To 12-11-16. Roger Clarke 08-11-16
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tability
seemingly starting ideally at around £5,000 a year, a tidy sum at the
end of the 18th century, worth about £400,000 today.
so
little to be sure about. Lizzie’s no messing, stone cold, till hell
freezes over rejection of him being seen merely as her playing hard to
get.