Review: PRIDE & PREJUDICE (SORT OF*), Criterion Theatre

As far as entertainment goes, our multiple lockdowns were characterised by specific obsessions. There were live workouts in the mornings, sourdough baking, people hunted for pasta and toilet paper, and they watched television. As the second lockdown was knocking on our doors, one more of these dropped on Netflix.

Bridgerton was an instant success. The drama, intrigue, and utter filth of Regency era London trapped us in front of our screens. It's no surprise that a bonkers adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has taken its rightful place in the West End. Pride and Prejudice (sort of*) starts its life at the other end of the country, in Scotland, in 2018. The show is a whirlwind of love-struck songs sung in moments of emotional repression and immaculate storytelling. And it just works.

The story of the Bennet sisters is told by their maids, who dress up and deliver a scrumptious series of gags. Delightfully over the top and distinctly feminist, the play with music is an easy, uplifting comedy. While the original material might seem highbrow, the company make it accessible and thoroughly modern in delivery. Where Austen is private and low-key, they're boisterous and foul-mouthed in the best way.

Irn Bru is served at the Meryton ball while Moët and Chandon flows at Netherfields while the actors gallivant across the stage in clever costuming. Isobel McArthur writes and co-directs with Simon Harvey while also performing as a handful of characters. The five cover all the important figures in the novel, adding their own eccentric spin to the classic personalities.

Caroline (an obnoxiously fantastic Hannah Jarrett-Scott), shamelessly flirts with Darcy (McArthur) putting down all other women in the room boastful and envious, while her brother Bingley (Jarrett-Scott again) is a thick toff with a very flat sense of humour. Lizzie Bennet (Meghan Tyler), usually the star of the show, now is flanked by equally fiery, cracking companions, so her loud, exasperated "F- off" to Collins's marriage proposal fits right in..

McArthur is the mother of the lot too, who loathes Mr Bennet (here an invisible presence constantly sat on an armchair, reading his paper with his back to the audience) and loves a tipple. Christina Gordon and Tori Burgess complete the cast as the forlorn Jane and the middle child-est of middle children, Mary Bennet

Colin Grenfell's lighting design is the cherry on top of the flurry of quick changes and romantic scheming. Moody lights shower the characters against Ana Inés Jabares-Pita's gorgeous set. A long winding staircase dominates the scene, each step firmly planted into small piles of books before disappearing into nothing. A tall bookcase and a piano also ground the piece into the literary sphere.

McArthur paints Austen's sensitivity with muted colours, highlighting all the hypocrisy and chauvinism in brilliant, riotous comedy. The end result is a surprisingly faithful, unquestionably funny adaptation.

Pride & Prejudice (sort of*) runs at the Criterion Theatre until 13 February.

Photo credit: Matt Crockett

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