Join Tron Theatre Company and Blood of the Young for a unique and colourful take on the definitive rom-com, Pride & Prejudice. Five vaguely familiar young women have a story to tell. You’ll have seen them, emptying the chamber pots and sweeping ash from the grate, the overlooked and the undervalued making sure that everyone above stairs finds their happy ending. Because when you can't be the romantic lead in your own story, you have to play a supporting role in someone else's.
Men, money and microphones will be fought over in this irreverent, all-female adaptation of Jane Austen's unrivalled literary classic. It's party time for Elizabeth, Darcy, Jane, Bingley and even those who never got names… Let the ruthless match-making begin.
Perhaps those wanting a ‘true to the page’ staging will object with many choices here, but this Pride and Prejudice is a joy from start to finish.
A brave choice for adaptation, and a largely effective and highly entertaining evening’s theatre from a top-notch cast, but far from perfect.
The result is a have-your-cake-and-eat-it adaptation in which the gags are plentiful even while the stakes are high.
As the Bennett sisters start doing it for themselves via a reclaiming of old-school disco classics on Ana Ines Jabares-Pita’s stair-case set that frames the action pin-pointed by Simon Hayes’ playful lighting, the song and dance they make becomes an unfettered joy from start to finish.
There is plenty in Paul Brotherston’s lively production to entertain anyone with even a passing knowledge of Austen’s milieu, even if, stretched out to two-and-a-half hours, the conceit wears thin.
Far from a standard night at the theatre, Pride and Prejudice (Sort Of) is a hell of a night out; a colourful and dynamic romp that'll etch grins onto faces.
The actors are impressive to a woman...Ultimately, one can’t help but feel that one has been here many times before, and that the play is simply repeating a very narrow repertoire of postmodern devices.
Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of) celebrates Austen's humour with added karaoke and disco balls.
Isobel McArthur
Pride and Prejudice reimagined for the 21st century.
Tron Theatre, Glasgow from Thursday June 28, 2018, until Saturday July 14, 2018. More info: www.tron.co.uk
Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh from Thursday January 23, 2020, until Saturday February 15, 2020. More info: www.lyceum.org.uk
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