Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are chalk and cheese, night and day, calm and wild. While Elinor takes
great pains to keep her feelings to herself and live within the confines of regency society, Marianne. . .does
not.
When their father dies and their half-brother inherits everything, our heroines are forced to leave the home
they love and move across the country. There they must rely on the kindness of their colourful country
relatives as they fall madly in love, suffer heartbreak and find themselves at the centre of plenty of
gossip…
In this brand-new adaptation, five actors bring Austen’s comedy of manners to life with energy, imagination
and a palpable sense of fun.
Review by Richard Lambert
The cast were energetic throughout what is a long show, running at 2 hours and 10 minutes, and they clearly threw themselves into the production with great commitment and dedication.
There are an impressive number of costumes and costume changes, particularly given that the five actors play such a wide range of characters. The opening song and the song leading into the interval were both very funny and set the tone well.
At times, however, the actors were difficult to hear in the theatre without microphones, and some of the directing choices worked against the performances. There were instances of lines being delivered while actors were facing upstage or leaving the stage, while the frequent huffs and puffs towards the audience to signal the end of scenes became repetitive. There was also rather too much movement of set pieces, with pictures and windows being re-hung between scenes, which sometimes felt clumsy and unnecessarily distracting.
The lighting also felt inconsistent and would benefit from considerable refinement. At times the audience was lit when there was no reason to do so, while when the actors did enter the audience, they were often missed by the lighting. The moving lights were also frequently focused on areas that weren’t part of the acting space for the scene, creating a rather messy overall effect.
There is a lot of energy, commitment and comic potential here, but the production needs a good polish. At present, some of the technical and directorial choices risk upstaging the comedy rather than allowing it to shine.
Photos by Kee Visions
CAST
Marianne Dashwood, Anne Steele and Mrs Ferrars: Laura Cooper-Jones
Edward Ferrars, John Willoughby, John Dashwood and Mrs Jennings: Thomas Judd
Elinor Dashwood and Sir John Middleton: Grace Kelly Miller
Fanny Dashwood, Mrs Palmer, Lucy Steele and Margaret Dashwood: Laura Smithers
Mrs Dashwood, Colonel Brandon, Mr Palmer and Robert Ferrars: Kaysha Woollery
CREATIVES
Writer / Adapter: Nicky Diss
Director: Nicky Diss
Producer: Thomas Judd
Associate Producer: Sarah Gain
Composer & Musical Director: David Knight
Costume Designer: Grace Kelly Miller
Lighting Designer: Dylan Lowe
Deputy Stage Manager: Dan Cox
PR: Matthew Parker
Marketing: Laura Cooper-Jones