If Jane Austen once referred to Pride and Prejudice as “her own darling child,” playwright Kate Hamill is the aunt who taught that child how to be funny. This is not your worn out ’95 VHS of Colin Firth in a wet shirt. No, Hamill’s adaptation is a new animal, so rife with wit and silly details, you’ll want to buy another ticket and catch the innuendos you know you missed.
That’s how we felt watching Portland Center Stage (PCS)’s production of Pride and Prejudice, and now we’re seriously considering a rewatch before the run ends on October 25.
Much of the play unfolds in the brightly colored parlor of the story’s central Bennet family. The Bennets are doing okay economically, but none of the daughters can inherit the family estate. The answer? Marry them off to someone with deep pockets. Luckily, two new very wealthy bachelors recently arrived in the Bennet’s social circle: Mr. Bingley (Treasure Lunan) and Mr. Darcy (Setareki).
Eldest Bennet sister Jane (Ashlee Radney) and Bingley make a fast match. However, Darcy thinks the Bennets are ridiculous and Lizzy (Kushi Beauchamp) thinks Darcy’s a dick. Lizzy and Darcy quite obviously want to bone but their miscommunication is off the charts.
Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice opens with the players performing a formal weaving dance—characteristic of Regency-era England. Abruptly the lights pulse, the classical music warps into a booming club beat, and the actors grind on the furniture and each other. This prologue gave the audience a chance to cheer for their favorite character before the scene segued and settled into the Bennet’s living room.
The script’s notes “strongly suggest avoiding fanciness” in scenery, so PCS swerved to dressing the stage with bright, evocative color: blue walls, rose carpet, and peach brocade chairs. In the second act, a large back panel folds out, changing the setting to a decadent garden. Designed by Alexandra Meyer, these brilliant sets bring to mind her previous magic with the set of Fat Ham.
The cast is a force of talent, with everyone but the actors playing Lizzy and Darcy performing two or three parts. Switchbacks happen with a simple wig change. As both the notoriously creepy Mary Bennet and sweet Mr. Bingley, Lunan gloriously hacks and wheezes, gives loquacious speeches, and rips out a lock of Lydia’s hair for a souvenir.
Beauchamp is absolutely brilliant as Lizzy. If you thought nothing more could be done with the character, Beauchamp’s physical humor, awkward confidence, and practiced twerking make Lizzy that much more loveable.
Janice Munk is perfectly lascivious, as Mr. Collins, fully committing to lines like “I hope to couple with all my cousins in the course of the evening.” Her skills at dancing like a vampire while fellating a walking stick had the crowd rolling. However, it might be Radney who steals the show as coddled heiress Miss Ann De Bourgh—walking around with a binky in her mouth.
Austen fans love an adaptation but can be hard to please, so Hamill must have known she had some big shoes to fill. With snappy jokes, beautiful sets, and the show’s killer cast, Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice bursts right out of them.
Pride and Prejudice plays on the PCS main stage at the Armory, 128 NW 11th, through October 25, $25-$100, tickets and at pcs.org, all ages
