Maggie Haynes, Allie Willhouse, Grace Hoover, Lexi Fazzolari & Erin Shellenberger. Photo by John Bivins Photography.
Can you imagine if Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy were on the dating apps?
Darcy’s profile: “Rich, single, shy guy, hates to dance, not looking for romance, be perfect or else.”
And Elizabeth? “Second-best Bennet sister, literally no intention of getting into a serious relationship, will make fun of you to your face, deeply flawed and won’t apologize for it.”
Not exactly a match made in heaven, and yet (as we all know) Darcy and Elizabeth will end up together. In fact, they are among the most famous romantic pairings in literature—despite (or maybe because of) how agonizingly long it takes them to push past their prejudices and admit how much they admire and love one another.
For Francesca Amendolia, director of Gamut Theatre’s upcoming production of “Pride and Prejudice,” that makes this a love story worth telling.
“Darcy and Elizabeth seem like a couple who might actually make it—unlike Romeo and Juliet, unlike Catherine and Heathcliff, unlike so many other ‘romantic’ happy-ever-afters that don’t seem predicated on growth or mutual respect or real love,” Amendolia said.
Of course, in Kate Hamill’s play, as in Jane Austen’s novel, love takes a back seat to marriage. Love is nice, but it’s marriage that will keep women safe, fed and housed. So, going to balls, flirting with soldiers, meeting rich gentlemen—enticing and captivating and capturing and securing—this is a young woman’s purpose, her job. Hamill’s take on Austen’s most famous story makes it very clear both how much this is a game and how deadly serious it is.
“I don’t love this expression, but it is true that this is not your granny’s ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ It’s fast, funny, lively, sexy even,” Amendolia said. “Telling classic stories in new and interesting ways is Gamut’s whole mission, and that’s what Kate Hamill does, too.”
In this case, “new and interesting” means mounting a production of a beloved Regency romance without using English accents or asking actors to cover their tattoos. Amendolia gets that this choice is not likely to be everyone’s cup of Earl Grey, but hopes audiences will find themselves more drawn in, more invested.
“Yes, Americans love British stories and accents, but that doesn’t mean we here in central Pa. are obliged to alter our vowel sounds to truthfully tell a story about five sisters, their determined mother, a handful of eligible bachelors, and a judgmental relative or two—or three,” Amendolia said. “That’s a story a lot of us live some version of.”
“Pride and Prejudice” is a story that matters here and now as much as it did there and then.
“Marriage is still a financial contract as well as a romantic ideal,” Amendolia pointed out. “We’re still selling young people a bill of goods—the idea that marriage is their ultimate social and emotional goal—when there are so many other ways to live full, rich and fulfilling lives.”
Don’t think, however, that any of this means Gamut’s “Pride and Prejudice” won’t be serving full-on “Bridgerton” with oodles of lovely dresses, well-fitted brocade vests, lace handkerchiefs and maybe even a couple of top hats.
“Truthfully, ‘Bridgerton’ has been an inspiration in more ways than one,” Amendolia said. “Costume dramas don’t need to perfectly replicate the past and are often more interesting when they don’t.”
That’s another thing Hamill’s adaptation invites audiences to think about—the pointlessness of perfection. Elizabeth’s sister, Jane, dreamily defines love as a “perfect understanding between souls—wordless and faultless.” Darcy says that he has never found fault with too much perfection, and Lizzy laughs at the whole notion: “Pictures of perfection,” she says, “make me sick and wicked.”
Austen and Hamill both want us to know that there is no such thing as a “perfect” match. Great relationships are created through love and labor, patience and persistence—much like great novels. Or great plays.
“Pride and Prejudice” runs March 9 to March 24 at Gamut Theatre, 15 N. 4th St., Harrisburg. For more information and tickets, visit www.gamuttheatre.org/pride-and-prejudice.
UPCOMING EVENTS
At Gamut Theatre
www.gamuttheatre.org
717-238-4111
TMI Improv
March 1 at 7:30 p.m.
“Pride and Prejudice”
March 9 to 24
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.
Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
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