There is a famous cartoon of a publisher explaining to Jane Austen while they like the plot of her novel, she will have to take out all the effing and blinding. Author and director Isobel McArthur’s irreverent, hilarious yet strangely affectionate adaptation has profanity front and centre along with a series of oddly appropriate karaoke songs.
The central joke of Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) is that the only reason the ladies of the Bennet household are able to spend so much time agonising over their love lives is because servants are picking up after them and sorting out the messes they make. The servants (Emma Rose Creaner, Eleanor Kane, Rhianna McGreevy, Naomi Preston Low and Christine Steel) take a break from their labours to enact, for the benefit of the audience, the trials and tribulations of the Bennet siblings and their long-suffering mother as she tries to get them successfully wed. Along the way, they also offer the occasional editorial comment and even a song where it helps to articulate the romantic feelings, or define the nature, of the characters. Inevitably, "You’re So Vain" introduces the arrogant Mr Darcy.
Respect for the source material is apparent even before the show begins. Ana Inés Jabares-Pita’s stage set has a staircase with books at every step, and the walls of the room are crammed with novels. The opening song is Costello’s "Everyday I Write the Book".
Austen’s original novel can be taken as a satire on the extremes to which people are pushed by love and the ridiculous nature of its associated rituals. McArthur’s adaptation goes even further; Mrs Bennet plans her daughters’ behaviour at a forthcoming party with the precision of a military commander (and the coarse vocabulary to match), determined they will secure husbands. Occasionally, modern viewpoints intrude—there is little doubt as to Charlotte Lucas’s sexuality or her feelings for Elizabeth Bennet. The disparity between the sexes, with women left homeless as only men can inherit wealth, is reported in a resigned manner as if little has changed over the years.
Audience expectations are mocked cheerfully. Characters express disappointment when Mr Darcy does not, in the manner of Colin Firth in the TV adaptation, appear soaked to the skin. The extent of Bingley’s obsessive deferment to Lady Catherine De Burgh is shown as a curtsey turns into a display of the splits. Elizabeth’s reluctance to consider marriage becomes apparent as she is literally dragged screaming across the floor to receive a proposal. Although the wording is taken from the source novel, Darcy’s declaration of love for Elizabeth is delivered as a stinging summation of her family’s shortcomings.
Some of the gags are groan-inducing. Although the same actor plays both characters, it is remarked that Bingley and his sister are physically not alike. The Bennet family’s horse is named ‘Willy’, hence any number of nudge-nudge instructions to mount / ride Willy. Lady Catherine De Burgh’s name justifies singing "Lady in Red" by Chris De Burgh. Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) began as a fringe production, and its roots are apparent in gags such as the coconut shells used to simulate the sound of horses’ hooves coming in that bit too late.
The style of singing is enthusiastic rather than polished, which is perfect as the characters are cleaners singing while they work. While they might allow themselves the luxury of borrowing the occasional posh frock, all of the characters retain their thick work boots. The sheer inventiveness of the show is breathtaking. Elizabeth’s heart-to-heart chat with the villainous Wickham occurs as they step out from a party and casually share a fag beside the dustbins. The sight gag of Elizabeth haunted by a portrait of Darcy is superb.
Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) challenges expectations and becomes a cheeky, loving and inventive tribute to a classic romance.