Jane is very, very pregnant, and we ache with her as she slowly rises from chairs and waddles across the floor. Alexis Bronkovic plays the feisty Elizabeth with aplomb, Elena Lucia Quach delights as the foolish Lydia and Shonda Royall makes sure that Jane’s sweetness and kindness shine through. One of the delights in this play was watching Jessica Jain breathe life into Mary, who has become somewhat of a master on the pianoforte, quick-witted, and sick and tired of being invisible. Sean Daniels’ keen sense of direction - and humor - fashions “Miss Bennet” into a play that is a must-see for fans of Austen, as well as those who have never read her.Ī strong cast helped. And they do this all with reverence and originality. They even stick in a few favorite lines from the original. Gunderson and Melcon nailed it: the language, the personalities, the wit that made Austen’s book so loved are carried over into the script. But when an unexpected guest shows up, well, Mary wakes up. Her sisters see her as dweeby as ever and barely acknowledge her. The minute Mary walks in, she heads for those books. They are hosting a family Christmas at their fabulous estate, Pemberley.Īll the action takes place in the impressive drawing room, packed with books and lined with gorgeous windows looking out on the snowy English countryside (kudos to set designer Apollo Mark Weaver). Darcy put aside their differences and wed. Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon have given us a new Mary in their giddily-delightful play “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” now on stage at Arizona Theatre Company.

She was dull, her nose was always stuck in a book and she was judgmental and insisted on playing the pianoforte. Mary, the middle of the five Bennet sisters, kind of didn’t deserve any. Jane Austen barely gave her any ink in her 19th century novel “Pride and Prejudice.” Orignially published in the Arizona Daily Star. ‘Miss Bennet’ gives new life to ‘Pride and Prejudice’ characters

Pride and prejudice characters