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Standing from left, Michael Weppler is Bingley and Micah Linford is Darcy, and seated from left, Rebecca Dawson is Jane and Bridget S. Dunne is Elizabeth in the Adobe Theater’s “Pride and Prejudice.”
No matter how much time passes, much of human nature remains the same.
That’s why the 2013 stage production of Jane Austen’s 1813 novel, “Pride and Prejudice,” seems relevant to matters of the heart, director Leslee Richards says.
“It’s so full of the best stuff. People who think of Jane Austen as a priggish spinster lady underestimate how much insight she had into human nature,” Richards says. “We’re all still trying to figure out who we are and what we want out of life, no matter what century it is.”
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If you go WHAT: “Pride and Prejudice” WHEN: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, Sept. 14-Oct. 7 WHERE: Adobe Theater, 9813 Fourth NW HOW MUCH: $15 general admission, $13 seniors and students. Visit www.adobetheater.org or call 898-9222 |
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“Pride and Prejudice” is the story of love and life among English gentility during the Georgian era. The story focuses on the Bennets, a family of five daughters with loving parents who wish to arrange profitable marriages, according to the Adobe Theater website. Eligible and wealthy bachelors Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley arrive in town. Although the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane, does fall for Mr. Bingley, Elizabeth, the second daughter, finds Mr. Darcy snobbish and proud and is prejudiced against him, in a time when women had few choices or life opportunities.
The Adobe Theater production celebrates the bicentennial of the novel’s publication with a stage adaptation by Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan, that features a cast of 21 actors in period costumes, Richards says.
“We don’t have horses coming through the stage, but we do see how these characters change and grow,” says Richards, whose recent directing credits include “The Rabbit Hole” and “Talley’s Folly.”
Bridget S. Dunne, who plays Elizabeth, says she’s enjoyed the sassy, witty character: “She’s susceptible to a handsome face and just as turned off by a perceived bad attitude as any modern woman would be. She’s only 20 and she thinks she knows more than she does. That youthful selfishness colors her decisions.”
Micah Linford, who plays Mr. Darcy, says his greatest challenge was making the character his own.
“He’s such an iconic literary figure that everyone has their opinion about who he his and how he should be played. Darcy has many layers that have to be brought out while still keeping up the appearances of the early 1800s. He is misperceived as being rude, prideful and arrogant. Its always a challenge to be tasked with showing a character when his true self may not be apparent from the lines you are given to speak.”
