Isobel McArthur (after Jane Austen)
David Pugh, Newcastle Theatre Royal
Lowry, Salford
March 18-22, 2025; 2hrs
(also Leeds Grand May 26-31)
The measure of a really great piece of literature, of course, is its ability to transcend whatever interpretations it is subjected to. Shakespeare regularly suffers some pretty outrageous slings and arrows, for instance.
But Jane Austen usually strikes terror into the heart of television adaptors, who doff their caps and pay due deference to every bonnet, ribbon and calling card (of course there was the Zombie film and the PD James version, but generally the principle holds good.)
Which of course is the way that her legions of die-hard fans like it. How else could a fleeting glimpse of torso through a wet shirt have been sending hearts a flutter after all these years?
Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of)’s writer Isobel McArthur understands this perfectly, which is precisely why this raucous, bawdy, multi-award-winning extravaganza works so well.
Part karaoke and part old-fashioned slapstick, the five-woman cast throw themselves around the stage like there's no tomorrow. The songs are spot on (You’re So Vain, Mr Darcy), and the running gag about the mysteriously appearing microphones works every time.
The all-female cast, introduced as servants in the Bennet household, signposts the weightier themes in the novel that underpin the show and its comedy. The rigid social divides, the relatively lowly status of all women (including the redoubtable Lady de Bourgh and her poor daughter Anne, living their lives vicariously through Darcy, his cousin and Mr Collins) and above all the importance of the Good Marriage.
Speaking of Lady de Bourgh, she has one of those moments we all just wished we had thought of. Chris de Burgh’s Lady in Red. Inspired.
While all the cast members are terrific, Emma Rose Creaner deserves a mention for her brilliantly-linked roles - the plain Charlotte Lucas, fawning Mr Collins and wimpish Mr Bingley. And Rhianna McGreevy throws a perfect hissy fit as Mrs Bennet while transforming instantly, with just the addition of a topcoat, into our starchy hero, Darcy.
I’m a once-a-year reader, so recognised the borrowed chunks of dialogue, the rattle through the plot highlights and the points at which the show plays fast and loose with Ms Austen’s laser-sharp expose of society of the time.
Do you need to know the novel? Well like all theatre, some knowledge of the background always helps, but this show bounds along with such joy that it really shouldn’t make any difference.
And talking of the physicality of the performances, I always read to the end of the credits in the programme and am usually rewarded with a delightful titbit. This time it’s a "Production Osteopath", one Sean Durkin. I hope he's the least busy member of the crew.
More info and tickets here
