literature

‘Pride and Prejudice’ manages to feel fresh and new at The Ruth (Review)

| Rachel's Reviews

One might call it a universal truth that I will always be excited about a production of Pride and Prejudice. I absolutely love the novel by Jane Austen and the stage adaptation by Melissa Leilani Larson is perfect (I also love all of the film adaptations. Yes all) That said, I did feel a little bit cynical when I saw The Ruth was putting it on again after just doing it in 2023. It felt a little bit like a cash grab when they could do something new and fresh (even from Austen); however, my cynicism was ill-founded and unwarranted. The good folks at The Ruth have not only put on a great production of Pride and Prejudice but they’ve found a way to make it feel fresh and new.

Believe it or not I have actually seen this production twice now because my friend Jacks was in town for our epic 5 shows in 2 days theater trip. I did not, however, see both casts. The only difference in my Saturday and Thursday casts is we saw the understudy for Darcy played by Dustin Parmley. I hope to be able to see the MWF cast eventually but 2 times in one week is certainly plenty even for this Jane Austen fangirl.

One of my favorite parts of The Ruth is their commitment to diversity and inclusion. Not only are they doing shows like Once on this Island and Ragtime but they are thinking outside the box for shows like Pride and Prejudice. For example, in the role of Mrs. Bennet, a character who is usually loud and overbearing, they cast a deaf actress Anne Post Fife. Director Kymberly Mellen has integrated sign language and characters sharing the lines of Mrs. Bennett; thereby, giving her a voice she might otherwise have. You also get to see the expression of the characters as they are reciting the lines of their mother.

My favorite part of this adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is how it gives voice to some of the scenes and characters that Austen leaves ambiguous. This is mostly done through letter writing but I love seeing, for example, what Darcy writes his sister while Caroline Bingley and Lizzie are taking a turn about the room. Another great scene I love is when Jane and Bingley are both writing letters to each other and then throwing them out because they are so miserable for each other.

Of course, we all know the key to a successful Jane Austen adaptation is the 2 leads and their chemistry. Like I said, one night I had the Darcy understudy, and he is excellent but the main single-cast actor for Darcy is James Carter who I had previously seen in the role at Centerpoint Legacy last year. He captures beautifully the shy yet brooding charm which has become the most popular way to portray Darcy of late. He also has great chemistry with Lauren Pope who is our Lizzie. She is an actress that captures the emotion of scenes in an authentic genuine way. When she gets the news of Lydia, for example, it feels like she is truly weeping.

The rest of the cast is strong with Sydney Claire Olson standing out as a single cast Lydia and Parley Lambert as Wickham. Kim Abunuwara also practically steals the show as Lady Catherine de Bourgh. I particularly like she decides to sing terribly with Lizzie at the piano. It makes sense a woman like herself would think she’s a great singer even though she clearly is not.

I do think the play felt a little longer for some reason than other times I’ve seen this adaptation. It is nearly 3 hours at The Ruth which is a long sit even for this huge Austen reader. Also, while I applaud the integration of a hearing impaired actor as Mrs. Bennet it did lead to some confusion. I was never entirely sure if this is an accommodation for the actor to participate or is the character meant to be deaf.

The reason it is unclear is there are long stretches such as her long conversation with Mr Collins where he doesn’t sign and then other times when she is dubbed by the other actors. Also Darcy still overhears Mrs. Bennet talking and gossiping which would be harder to do with the signing. I believe the Mrs. Bennet character is the same as in the story portrayed by a deaf actor, not that the character is deaf but if any of the readers have seen it I’d love your read on the character. Also I may be unclear on this but doesn’t it seem odd to not have an ASL interpreter at all of the shows when you have deaf castmembers? I would think the likelihood of deaf family and friends would be much higher for something like this so a signer might have been nice.

Regardless I appreciate The Ruth trying something new and fresh for this story. Austen fans will adore it like I did. The costumes are outstanding by Brenda Van Der Wiel with hair and makeup by Shannon Hutchins. Pride and Prejudice is playing through November 7th but it’s selling out so don’t miss your chance to see it buy purchasing tickets here. It’s a romantic, heartfelt, and classic night of community theater for sure!

Pride and Prejudice is adapted by Melissa Leilani Larson based on the classic novel by Jane Austen. This was commissioned by Brigham Young University in 2013 and first produced in 2014.

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.

No director is needed at Co-Lab Theater Company’s Hamlet (Review)

| Rachel's Reviews

One of the cool things about classic works, particularly Shakespeare, is they are old enough and have been interpreted so many different ways over the years that they give a lot of freedom for a theatre company to experiment with. For example, on Saturday I saw the 4th version of Hamlet I’ve seen on stage and film this year, and they all have been very different (Lion King Jr, at Utah Shakes, and a film version with Riz Ahmed are the other 3.) The latest Hamlet is being put on by the new-to-me Co-Lab Theater Company and its unique spin is they perform without a director.

That’s not to say that the play feels direction-less because it doesn’t. Basically the idea behind the company is the entire ensemble works together to direct the show- a true collaboration hence the name of the company. One might assume this will make the show feel fractured with confused ideas but that’s not the case. It felt like there was a singular vision and if they hadn’t told me there was no director I wouldn’t have known.

For some reason I always think of Hamlet as a younger character (maybe because a lot of his choices seem immature) but that’s actually not true to the text. The Gravedigger even says that the day of Hamlet’s birth was 30 years ago. And if you think about it 30 makes a lot of sense. Even today that’s the age when most of the promises of adulthood have been sanded down and we are all more of realists than we might have been at say 20. David Thulin captures this disenchantment of Hamlet quite well. It almost feels like a mid-life crisis version of the character, which as a truly middle-aged woman I appreciate. My favorite part of his performance was his connection with the audience. One of the benefits of being in a black box style space is the intimacy the performer can have with the audience and Thulin seems to understand this. There are multiple times he makes direct eye contact with the audience, which is very effective- especially when delivering these famous monologues and soliloquies.

I also appreciate how Hannah Hacking-Brown started her Ophelia with a little bit of a snark and cynicism to her line readings which made her transformation to manic pixie dream flower girl all the more shocking. I didn’t like when Utah Shakes cast a woman in the role of Horatio but here Anna Owens gives an androgynous nature to her performance so it was never distracting as a potential love interest for Hamlet like I felt at Utah Shakes.

They have modernized the setting for Hamlet moving it to turn-of-the-century Denmark This gives a little bit of a steampunk feel to the goings-on, and I’d be curious to see someone go full scale with a steampunk Hamlet. Somebody should try that some time. I do wish they could get the room darker because often the screens and projections are murky and hard to decipher due to the glare of the lighting. They can also keep working on transitions as some feel a little stretched out. I also felt the Polonius wig and beard was over-the-top and felt more like Dumbledore cosplay than Polonius.

This performance of Hamlet is free to the public at the Hive Collaborative and donations are requested for the efforts. Much like the recent Romeo and Juliet in the park, I love when a community has a chance to experience theatre at minimal costs. This is a great opportunity to introduce young people to great shows like Hamlet, and the performance by Co-Lab is well worthy of your time. I’m certainly glad I saw it and look forward to what they do next. There is one more chance to see it tomorrow night and reservations can be made here.

Hamlet is Shakespeare’s 22nd play written in between 2 comedies Twelfth Night and The Merry Wives of Windsor around 1600 although there is some debate amongst scholars about the actual date of the first production. It is widely considered to be the greatest play ever written in the English language.

I need your help!  If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look  here.

TEENS SHINE IN AMERICAN HERITAGE’S AMBITIOUS ‘PRIDE AND PREJUDICE’ (REVIEW)

| Rachel's Reviews

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love the works of Jane Austen including most of the stage adaptations (not the biggest fan of the musicals but I’m a sucker for most everything else.) I particularly love the two Jane Austen adaptations for stage by playwright Melissa Leialani Larson and will see whomever is putting it on. It is for these reasons I jumped at the chance to see teens at the American Heritage School: Salt Lake Campus take on her adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. This is an extremely ambitious production for a high school to take on and they did a fantastic job executing it.

There are a lot of very impressive aspects of what American Heritage is doing with this play. First of all it is long and full of old-English language that might be challenging for teens. Most of the time teens do shorten versions of musicals and plays like Hadestown and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child both with teen editions. With this version of Pride and Prejudice, however, the teens do the full story which is no easy a task.

The stage that director Micole Mayfield is working with is small but set designers Kami and Justin Burnett have made the space work with platforms with frames for the actors to perform monologues behind or comment on the action that is happening. The transitions between scenes could be a little smoother but that’s all part of the learning experience for the teens.

As I said it is very impressive how confident the teens are with the large amounts of dialogue they had to learn. I enjoyed the entire cast but the standouts are probably Rylee Rubschlager as Mrs Bennet and Cannon Rockwood as William Collins. They are both very funny in their roles. This version of Pride and Prejudice has Darcy as more awkward than outright rude and Will Smith captures that energy well with Mary Anderson complimenting him nicely as Elizabeth (Lizzy) Bennet.

Here is an interview with playwright Melissa Leilani Larson

If they are looking for an area to improve I would say the costumes are a little all over the place. Some feel regency like with Mrs Bennet’s dress, then others seem almost Puritan with Lady Catherine’s dress, and finally others like Lizzy’s dress seem like prom dresses. I do appreciate they worked to make the hair accurate with long curls and up-dos but with such simple sets the costumes are pretty essential to setting the time and place, so that could be better. I also worry about picking a show without ensemble scenes. I know this is a smaller school but hopefully everyone who wanted to participate got the chance (I believe in no cuts high school theatre wherever possible.)

That said this production of Pride and Prejudice is free and would make for a great family activity. You not only would be supporting these wonderful teens but introducing the family to theatre and Jane Austen for no cost! It is definitely worthy of your time but act quickly as the last show is March 22nd. Tickets can reserved here.

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks. Please take a look here.