When it comes to one of the most popular love stories of the nineteenth century, the Gate’s Christmas production of Pride and Prejudice is bound to induce a fair bit of hype among the predominantly female portion of theatre-goers. In wake of the 2005 cinematic revival of the Mr Darcy archetype by Matthew Macfadyen, or for those of us old enough to have appreciated the 1995 TV series starring Colin Firth (I was ten, and very much in love), it is safe to say that Sam O’Mahony has an unenviable job in filling some rather large boots. O’Mahony’s Mr Darcy is, at first sight, a neatly handsome fellow in a well-tailored suit, but the excessively mechanical way in which he upholds his grandeur throughout (even after he has proclaimed his love for Elizabeth) prevents any of us from coming close to swooning. They don’t even kiss.
In this two hour production, one has to be prepared for the speed-read version of the deliciously opulent and carefully chiselled novel of eighteen chapters. One also has to accept that this classic love story is going to be told without those close-up camera shots of silent glances, underscored by soaring orchestral accompaniment that perfectly and wordlessly sum up the emotions felt by all characters simultaneously.
The task of judiciously cropping an already compact novel of several hundred pages into a single evening’s affair is undoubtedly hazardous, but this adaption (by James Maxwell, revised by Alan Stanford) remains as faithful as possible to the original plot by including all the fundamental scenes. It is well-cast, and manages to keep things fresh with flamboyant and unexpected colour-schemes in Bruno Schwengl’s costume and set design.
The five unmarried sisters provide enough kerfuffle and melodious quibbling to keep the tutti scenes lively and snappy, providing some hilarious counterpoint with the brilliantly calm and sardonic father of these five Mademoiselles, Mr Bennet (Stephen Brennan). Eleanor Methven’s adeptly hysterical playing of Mrs Bennet sets wonderful contrast against her husband’s character, and these two by far encompass the most credible relationship of all on stage: their witty exchanges and affectionate reproaches are utterly enjoyable to watch.
While Lorna Quinn as Elizabeth Bennet is pitch-perfect in the role, the dynamic between her and Mr Darcy is disappointingly lacklustre and flat. This is mainly due to the interwoven strands of their duologues being stated rather than spoken, and the fact that each action is followed by another action, rather than those actions producing plausible reactions. There is so little hesitance, tentativeness or timidity at play in the most crucial moments between them that it is hard to believe we are witnessing young love, let alone love that is of an unlikely kind for early nineteenth-century England, given Elizabeth’s lower social class.
Aoibhín Garrihy as the oldest sister Jane adopts appropriately quiet yet strong poise and allows her solemnity to loosen just enough in her more emotional moments with Bingley (Stephen Swift, who waltzes his way through the role with ease). While Kerrie O’Sullivan (Kitty) and Genevieve Hulme Beaman (Lydia) play the youngest sisters with unyielding energy, never tiring of stomping off stage in a huff, wailing their adolescent frustrations or poorly restraining fervent fits of the giggles, Rachel Gleeson as booklover Mary tops the subsidiary siblings with acute attention to detail of her character’s geeky charms.
Fuelling the desperation (predominantly of their mother) to get the girls married off to a respectable annual income (since the kind of man behind the fortune was of very little consequence), is the fear that their beloved Longbourn estate will fall into the smarmy hands of the next male heir, their cousin Mr Collins (Mark O’Regan), who makes a brilliantly disastrous proposal to Elizabeth, before promptly moving on to Charlotte Lucas (Maeve Fitzgerald).
Despite the main double act falling short of being in any way captivating, there are enough thunder-stealing characters in this production to keep one enthralled, notably the self-caricaturing Mr Collins, the charmingly satirical Mr Bennet, and the hilariously repetitive and razor-sharp Lady Catherine (Barbara Brennan), who makes a threatening swipe with her cane across Elizabeth’s eye-line during one acerbic exchange.
Alan Stanford’s direction of this 19-strong cast is executed with utmost precision and with an astute eye for balanced and beautiful blocking; Mary’s agonisingly inharmonious singing from behind an ornate and semi-transparent room divider upstage is just one particularly satisfying moment as her listeners’ attempts to maintain decorum is paraded for our amusement down stage. This is a well-assembled production that pays as much attention to the subplots as the main matchmaking endeavours, and most of what’s going on beyond Elizabeth and Mr Darcy is where the finer elements of this production transpire.
Jennifer Lee