Repertory Theater’s ‘Christmas at Pemberley’ a smart comedy
Funny, deeply romantic and feminist to the core, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” is a smart and moving comedy for women and the people who love them.
The Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s production, which opened Friday, drew frequent and enthusiastic laughter from the audience. “This is a lot funnier than I expected,” the man next to me said spontaneously before the beginning of Act Two.
But threaded through that comedy, Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s play explores the powerful yearning to be seen, accepted and loved for who we are, not for the role that a family dynamic has assigned us.
Gunderson and Melcon have created a sequel to Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” bringing four of the Bennet sisters together for the holidays at the estate of Lizzy and Fitzwilliam Darcy in 1815.
Mary (Rebecca Hurd), the Austen novel’s nearly invisible middle sister, is front and center here. Her sisters take the bookish and sharp-tongued Mary for granted, but her brother-in-law Darcy (Yousof Sultani) is the first to see she has become a confident and beautiful woman.
The arrival of Arthur de Bourgh (Jordan Brodess), a nerdy, equally bookish young man recently in possession of a good fortune, sets the romantic plot in motion. They meet cute over a copy of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s “Zoological Philosophy.” Competition is provided by Mary’s flirtatious younger sister Lydia (Netta Walker) and Arthur’s cousin Anne (Deanna Myers).
The playwrights have written short wordless transitions between the scenes; director Kimberly Senior has enhanced the comedy in these, as though they were silent-film bits.
As funny as “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” is, every character has at least one line that will hit you in the heart or the gut. Mine came from the simple, childlike Bingley (Fred Geyer), trying to persuade Mary to
IF YOU GO
Milwaukee Repertory Theater performs "Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley" through Dec. 16 at the Quadracci Powerhouse, 108 E. Wells St. For tickets, visit milwaukeerep.com or call (414) 224-9490. speak with Arthur again by reminding her it was of the season of faith “in your fellow man.” And “what of the women?,” the righteously angry Mary asks. “I have faith in all year round, Miss Bennet,” the gentle man replies.
Hurd vividly portrays a woman whose deep desire is to have a free choice in this world, an option often not available in 1815 and sometimes in question today. By the end of the play, her forthrightness has led the four sisters to see each other more clearly and embrace each other more honestly.
Knowledge of Austen’s novel isn’t necessary to enjoy “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” but there are Easter eggs here for her fans.