I have to confess I’ve always found Regency novels like Pride & Prejudice excruciatingly boring but this tongue in cheek romp through Jane Austen’s masterpiece is the exact opposite.
The vague premise of the show is that we see the antics of the Bennet family, and assorted posh folk in Meryton, from the perspective of the servants. Isobel McArthur who loosely adapted the novel uses that device to allow five incredibly hardworking and funny women the chance to play all the characters as they hurtle on and off stage.
This show is in the best traditions of British farce, which probably has some Austen superfans clutching their pearls in disgust, especially as our Bennet girls are a bit potty mouthed. However, if you’re not a tiresome snob then it’s a chance to enjoy a ribald trip through the best bits of one of the great literary love stories that has sparked countless TV and film adaptations.
And if that wasn’t enough the women break out a karaoke machine to sing some contemporary pop songs, like when who gives a damn feminist Elizabeth Bennet sings You’re So Vain to Mr Darcy which is comedy gold, as is a cleverly choreographed Holding Out For A Hero.
The cast dressed in Regency dresses and Doc Martens are critical to this show as it requires decent acting chops to play different roles, plus the ability to nail the physical comedy, which is a much underrated skill. There are echoes of Ray Cooney here as they mock some of the novel’s plot twists and endless balls, but perhaps more so Noises Off as cast members pop out of cupboards or strut up and down the stairs on Ana Ines Janares-Pita’s Regency inspired stairs.
Rhianna McGreevy had the toughest task playing the idiotic Mrs Bennet desperate to marry her five daughters off and the aloof Mr Darcy….often in the same scene. She pulled it off with great wit as the cast poked fun at the media cottage industry that has sprung around the novel. At one point Darcy was asked why he was so dry as a nod to that famous scene involving Colin Firth, which got a huge laugh.
McGreevy had the perfect sparring partner in Naomi Preston Low’s wonderfully cynical Elizabeth who endlessly mocks the pompous Darcy before realising she is in love with him, and you can see how that trope influenced most of eighties teen movies.
Big voiced and fearless Emma Rose Creaner ran riot playing both the Bingley siblings, and lovelorn Charlotte who here is holding a secret torch for Elizabeth. Credit to Christine Steel as eldest sister Jane for mounting a dangerous looking horse that was dragged onstage and giving us a really sleazy street Wickham. Eleanor Kane channelled her inner child rampaging round the stage as Lydia and was nicely creepy as Mr Collins
Fans of Gentleman Jack will love the irreverent nature of Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) that like that show mocks all the period’s regressive attitudes to women. You can’t help but think if Jane Austen could have been transported into the future that she would have been sat with us laughing out loud at a smart reimagining of her work that always puts the female characters at the heart of the action.
Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) is at Leeds Grand until Saturday 31st May. To book visit https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/ or call 0113 2430808.
Reviewer: Paul Clarke
Reviewed: 27th May 2025
North West End UK Rating: