Review: SENSE AND SENSIBILITY at Ottawa Little Theatre

Ottawa Little Theatre's production of Sense and Sensibility, adapted from Jane Austen's classic novel by Kate Hamill, is billed as a "romantic comedy-drama". The comedic side of the show was evident from the first scene when a prop was given a dual purpose in a most unexpected way, making the audience laugh out loud.

The black and white sets (Gillean Marie Denny Bernier, PhD), as well as many of the props, were painted to give a 2D, cartoonish effect. This was an interesting, but unexpected choice, given the Regency setting of the play. Some props, such as the trees, were hand-held by cast members, adding to the caricatured aspect of the show. For example, as Elinor (Emily Walsh) and Marianne (Abbey Sugars-Keen) take a walk along the promenade, rather than have the characters walk back and forth across the stage, the "trees" moved around the characters to represent motion.

A living area and staircase situated on a turntable at center stage served as the main component of the set. Depending on its orientation and added props, the simple set took on the role of many different locations, including the Dashwood family home, the cottage, a ballroom, and the Jennings' residence. The set was rotated to signify every scene change, regardless of whether the location changed. During lengthier scene changes, the turntable was rotated over and over (and over) again, perhaps to symbolize the growing tension swirling around the characters. However, after a while, the rotation of the set became tedious when it served no obvious purpose.

The novel's most dramatic scenes, Marianne's two ill-fated walks in the rain, occurred off stage for obvious reasons, but the actors were able to convey such a sense of urgency and concern felt for Marianne in the aftermath that it didn't matter that the audience never actually witnessed what happened. Indeed, most of the acting was top notch. Walsh and Sugars-Keen played their respective roles convincingly, the former portraying Elinor's stoic temperament and the latter embracing Marianne's headstrong, emotional nature, counteracting each other perfectly. Other performances of note were Jane Morris as the maternal Mrs. Dashwood, Thomas Jestin as the moody, poetic John Willoughby, Guy Newsham as the lovelorn Colonel Brandon, and Judy McCormick as the wonderfully devious and self-centred Fanny Dashwood.

The accent coach (Chris Ralph) did a fantastic job, as the actors never seemed to noticeably waver. The ballroom dance scene was beautifully choreographed by J.T. Morris and Andréa Black and showcased the largest cast I have seen on stage at OLT. My biggest issue with the show was the music, which was, comparatively, far too loud. The music often continued well after the actors started speaking, overpowering their voices.

The first act felt a little rushed and those not already familiar with Austen's work may have been at a disadvantage trying to reconcile the many characters and events happening in short sequence. This was offset somewhat by the four Gossips (Tyler Tanner, Michael Carens-Nedelsky, Natalie MacLellan and Susanna Doherty), who were well utilized in the first half, staying mostly on the periphery of the action. The Gossips acted in the spirit of a traditional Greek chorus, filling the audience in on gaps in the narrative, and sharing various facts and rumours surrounding the characters, symbolizing the penchant for gossip that was common in the Regency era. The Gossips were more intermingled with the main characters during the second half, which led to confusion as to whether they were still symbolic or if they were physically present in the character space.

The second act seemed to go on too long, especially in contrast to the first act, but Elinor and Marianne each finally received their well-deserved happily ever after. Oddly, when Edward Ferrars (Braden Sabourin) finally made his love declaration, he included phrases belonging to Emma's Mr. Knightley and Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Darcy. This felt terribly misplaced to me, but the playwright may have included the quotes as a wink to Austen aficionados.

Although Hamill's Sense and Sensibility was not my favourite production, it is still a worthwhile night at the theatre, particularly for fans of Regency romance. Sense and Sensibility is in performances through March 18th at Ottawa Little Theatre. Click here for more information or to buy tickets.

Ottawa Little Theatre's 2023 season has a wide variety of shows to come - click here to learn more.

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