Reviews

Pride & Prejudice (Tour – South Shields)

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26 January 2011

The classic tale of Mrs Bennet’s quest to marry off her daughters and the trials and tribulations that this entails is brought to life on stage in Laura Turner’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

In a simplistic setting, primarily the family home, the story of the Bennet daughters unfolds with little flair. The production lacks energy and pace and lumbers on for a late interval. There’s a clever use of the house staff to change the set but often the cumbersome changes feel unnecessary and only served to disjoint the story.

Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet’s shoes have been filled by many fine actors in the past, and Edwin Wright and Hannah Lee respectively do well, with Wright displaying the aloof characteristics of Darcy successfully. Whilst the remainder of the cast show enthusiasm, those that had two or three parts made it difficult at times to follow who is who and hinders the audience’s ability to connect with the characters.

Those familiar with the story will see it slowly come to its rightful conclusion but this adaptation does little to invigorate anyone to fall in love with Austen’s work.