‘Sense’-ible decisions

Great Lakes’ take on Jane Austen classic is full of life, modern touches

There is no need to mince words.

If you are not planning a trip to Playhouse Square’s Hanna Theatre to see the Great Lakes Theater production of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility,” change your plans.

And to any “Janeites” fearing this Kate Hamill adaptation may be a tad too “tituppy”(lively), rest assured this incredibly innovative take on classic Austen is a delicious romp that lifts this play to new heights without marring its original beauty or intent. Here’s what’s not changed: It centers around sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who, along with their mother and younger sister, Margaret, are left financially destitute and “socially vulnerable” after their father’s death. Forced to rely on the kindness of distant relatives, they move to a small home near Derbyshire.

This is a bit of a bummer for the reserved, sensible Elinor, who has allowed herself to fall in love with the soft-spoken, sweetly clumsy Edward, especially when she discovers he is secretly engaged to the self-involved Lucy Steele. Meanwhile, the more romantic and sensitive Marianne has her choice of two suitors: ruggedly handsome but seemingly stoic Colonel Brandon and gallant, flyby-night John Willoughby, who steals her heart from the moment he carries her all the way home following a fall during a rainy walk.

Relationships grow, hearts break, gossip spreads, set pieces whirl and whip around the stage, actors slip in and out of multiple costumes and characters, black and white is overtaken by neon color and audience members watch with wide eyes and dropped jaws as this potential “balagan” (mess) is a seamless, well-oiled machine from start to finish.

And that is just a hint at some of the daring steps Hamill takes to highlight Austen’s female voice, already ahead of its time, as well as the relevance of the themes of social and economic

hierarchy, love and marriage, family responsibility, women and society and the danger of excessive sensibility versus the fear of letting down your guard.

At the top of the show, we meet a prim-and-proper, gossipy “Greek Chorus” clad in versatile black-and-white costume pieces, using fans as punctuation marks and kibbitzing with each other and the audience during Lord Dashwood’s funeral. As they heap a large rag doll, meant to be Dashwood’s

body, onto a table, the tone for the rest of the show is set.

That’s also when the cast begins to reveal its phenomenal chemistry and showcase its raw talent.

Maggie Kettering and Angela Utrera complement

each other perfectly as the subdued Elinor and the carefree, romantic Marianne, respectively. Both are authentic and natural, with their characters seeming to jump right off of the novel’s page.

PHOTOS BY ROGER MASTROIANNI Mrs. Jennings (Joe Wegner) shares a laugh with Colonel Brandon (Nick Steen) in a scene from Great Lakes Theater’s “Sense and Sensibility.”

Elinor (Maggie Kettering) reads a distressing letter to Marianne (Ángela Utrera) in the Great Lakes Theater production of “Sense and Sensibility.”