Death Comes to Pemberley on tour – review

P D James’s novel Death Comes to Pemberley received a mixed reception when it was published in 2011 – some considered it superior Jane Austen fan fiction, while others found it too glum. I haven’t read it myself, but do remember quite enjoying the 2013 BBC adaptation starring Matthew Rhys and Anna Maxwell Martin as Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy.

The tale now comes to the stage with an unfortunate case of rigor mortis in this staid adaptation by Duncan Abel and Rachel Wagstaff that was first performed at the intimate Mill at Sonning in May and is now touring until September.

Set a few years after Pride and Prejudice ends with the union of Elizabeth (Jamie-Rose Duke in her professional theatre debut) and Darcy (James Bye, the late Martin Fowler on EastEnders), things are pretty idyllic apart from the fact that no heir has yet arrived. However, on a dark and stormy night, gunshots are heard from the woods, and Elizabeth’s chaotic family again threatens to pollute the shades of Pemberley. Captain Denny is dead and George Wickham (ne’er-do-well husband of Elizabeth’s sister Lydia) has essentially confessed at the scene of the crime. It seems a closed case, but would Wickham – even with his less-than-exemplary personal life – really be capable of killing his best friend?

The show doesn’t succeed in being either a light and bright pastiche or a dark and brooding drama, being simultaneously po-faced and hammy. Jonathan O’Boyle’s production feels remarkably dated with its static execution and the actors’ stilted line delivery.

The TV adaptation was on the gloomy side, but it did feature scene-stealing comic turns from Rebecca Front’s Mrs Bennet, Jenna Coleman’s Lydia and Penelope Keith’s Lady Catherine de Bourgh. The excitable Lydia (Mogali Masuku, who also plays the more substantial role of Louisa Bidwell) is completely wasted, and attempts at humour are signified by Lady Catherine (Sarah Berger), who has mellowed in the intervening years, and a monotonously mincing turn by Todd Boyce as magistrate Sir Selwyn Hardcastle.

The most memorable scene is the one in which Elizabeth has the chance to revisit her unresolved sexual tension with Wickham (Sam Woodhams, who resembles a young Rufus Sewell) and re-establish her headstrong nature by defying her husband’s orders. The relatives of long-serving footman Mr Bidwell (Paul Jerricho), who are rallying around dying son Will (also played by Woodhams), bring things into potboiler territory with claims of ghost sightings and the skeletons in their family closet.

Darcy’s cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam (Sean Rigby), described by Austen as “in person and address most truly the gentleman”, has become a boorish clod. Other irritations include the suggestion that Lady Catherine is a member of the Darcy family (she is in fact Darcy’s mother’s sister) and, as per the etiquette of the time, Elizabeth would never invite a servant’s daughter to call her by her first name. Furthermore, she would be addressed as ‘Madam’ or ‘Ma’am’, not ‘Miss’.

The second half has a bit more zip as we hurdle towards the conclusion and Joe Bence, covering the role of Darcy’s sister Georgiana’s (Celia Cruwys-Finnigan) love interest Henry Alverston, gives one of the evening’s more animated performances. The piano music (with arrangements and musical direction by David Osmond, who usually plays Alverston) is certainly agreeable and the set design by Sean Cavanagh evokes an elegant classicism.

In her 250^th year, Austen remains the sharpest and most innovative of writers, but this homage to her most popular work bears little relation to the characters she created beyond surface level. A much better bet for Austen fans would be Adrian Lukis’s (Wickham in the unbeatable 1995 adaptation) witty one-man show Being Mr Wickham at Jermyn Street Theatre in August.