Review: Pride and Prejudice

Date Seen: 12/10/14

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man, in possession of a great fortune, must be in want of a wife”. It should also be universally acknowledged that adapting a novel for stage is a tough task, especially such a well-loved English classic as Pride and Prejudice.  To do so for a cast of two ought not be possible. It is much to their credit that ‘Two Bit Classics’, a company founded by Joannah Tincey and Nick Underwood in 2013, has done exactly that. Lovers of Jane Austen’s classic would be mad to miss it.

To steal a phrase from Mr Darcy, Pride and Prejudice was “open, cheerful and engaging”. Tincey has transferred the book to stage with aplomb. Using only lines from the original prose, Tincey has successfully re-created Austen’s charming world and done it with only two actors playing 18 roles.

Before the performance at a renovated Stag Theatre in Sevenoaks, many in the audience were expecting an ‘Under Milk Wood’ style interpretation with silly accents and a confusingly muddled narrative. What they actually got was a fast-paced and accessible piece of drama. Using simple props and costumes, Tincey and Underwood performed each of their many characters with clarity and a wonderful charm.

Tincey’s Elizabeth Bennet warmed the audience with her sweet smiles and soft tones. The dialogue was witty and Tincey’s movements were graceful, yet she still retained Lizzie’s sharp-tongued wit and pride. It was Nick Underwood who stole the show with his flawless changes between characters. Underwood’s stage presence, combined with Austen’s words, had us believe that Darcy had stepped out from the pages of the book and onto the stage.

The production was witty, engaging and true to the original. This clever adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is playing at theatres around the UK until November 2014.