Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” has seen many adaptations over the years, with Keira Knightley’s Oscar-nominated performance in the 2005 film adaptation being the latest.
And now the play adaptation, written by Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan, has come to Swine Palace. 
I was in the audience Wednesday for the play’s opening night in Shaver Theatre in the Music and Dramatic Arts Building.
The Performance
As a whole, the acting was outstanding. Thomas Anderson and his wife Cristine McMurdo-Wallis stole the show as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. 
McMurdo-Wallis shined as the emotionally unstable mother, bouncing from joy at her daughter’s prospective marriages to complete and utter insanity at Lydia Bennet’s elopement.  
Her husband, Anderson, provided the most comic relief with witty comebacks to his wife’s crazy comments and gave one of the more touching moments of the play when he discusses Mr. Darcy’s (Drew Battles) intent to marry his daughter, Elizabeth Bennet (Joanna Cole).
Battles and Cole both offered strong performances in the lead roles. Cole stumbled over her words on more than one occasion in the first act but gave a spectacular performance following the intermission. Her portrayal of the strong-willed, blunt Elizabeth was fantastic.
Battles also provided moments of hilarity as the dry and sarcastic Mr. Darcy. While he seemed almost too stiff at times, his profession of love for Elizabeth was one of the play’s strongest moments.
Atmosphere
Shaver Theatre was gorgeous as always, as was the backdrop to the play. Three walls and a piano were the only stationary objects on stage — simple, but it allowed for the production staff to change scenes without worrying about a busy background.
Transitions were splendid throughout the performance and flowed naturally from scene to scene.
Lighting was effective at portraying changes in time, shining black lights on the rear of the stage for night scenes and yellow lights toward the front for daytime.
Costume and Set Design
To say the outfits were spectacular would be an understatement. Each costume fitted perfectly to the person wearing it and looked like it was taken straight from the early 1800s.
Set design was also exceptional. The furniture looked era-appropriate and was placed around the stage for the performers to easily interact with. No qualms there.
The Experience
The theatre was packed by the time I arrived, and several would-be viewers were unable to find seats until moments before the play began. Luckily for them, the play was running a few minutes behind and didn’t begin until around 7:40.
The late start ceased to matter once the performers took the stage. Superb acting combined with great set design and a commendable effort by everyone involved makes “Pride and Prejudice” one of the best University plays in recent memory.
Grade: A
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Contact Taylor Balkom at [email protected]