Pride and Prejudice Dazzles
“Pride and Prejudice” transports audience to Austen-era England.
October 24, 2017
This past weekend, the Advanced Theater Ensemble (ATE) performed an adaptation of the play “Pride and Prejudice” under the direction of Theater Director Chris Marshall. Families, fellow students and friends of cast members attended the multiple showings and were all very impressed with the outcome of the performance. This class successfully portrayed this challenging show.
“Pride and Prejudice” is an adaption of the Jane Austen novel by the same name, and was first directed by Jon Jory. Mr. Marshall chose this show because it had an even ratio of roles for men and women, and also because Jon Jory is one of Marshall’s all-time favorite directors
This show is a romantic comedy which is set in late 18th, early 19th century England. The story follows Elizabeth Bennet, one of five daughters in the Bennet household. Since none of the daughters in the Bennet household can inherit any of their father’s fortunes due to inheritance laws of the time, they are pushed by their mom, to marry rich. By Elizabeth Bennet slowly falling in love with Mr. Darcy, this play displays the importance of not marrying for financial reasons, but instead for love. To this day, this story remains relevant and is loved by many people.
BENNET FAMILY TIES: Cameron Gunn ’19 (from left), Taylor Hooker ’19, Katie Crino ’18, Anna Roman ’18, Jackson Meyer ’18, Addison Aloian ’18 and Rajshree Chettiyar ’19 all acted as the Bennet family.
A lot of hard work and effort was put into the making of this play. The ATE class had their first auditions last May and held rehearsals three times a week since the first day of school. However, as opening night drew near, cast members even pitched in weekend hours toward perfecting their performance. During these rehearsal periods, the cast members read the play together, studied and talked about all the aspects of each of their different characters.
MAY I HAVE THIS DANCE? Cast members danced throughout the play, including Leana Fraifer ’17, Hunter Sketch ’17, Addison Aloian ’18, Freddie Carolan ’19, Andre Armero ’18 and Morgan McGrew ’19 (from left).
One major setback for the cast was Hurricane Irma, which caused a lot of stress. Even with this problem, though, the cast members still found time to practice for their roles.
“All of us worked through that process, and nobody ever let down mentally,” said Marshall. “Because of the three or four rehearsals we lost (due to Irma) they (the cast members) had to work a lot on their own with learning lines and dialect.”
TENSE TIMES: The play was not without its tense moments, including this conversation between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, portrayed by Anna Roman ’18 (left) and Cole Hoffman ’19 (right). Kaleigh White ’19 and Juan Coste Delvecchio ’19 observe from behind (left to right)
The set, which was designed by Marshall and set designer Keith Arsenault, had a gorgeous and very simple style, fitting in with the period that the play was set in. It gave the feeling of a very pleasant and luxurious atmosphere with the fluffy clouds that surrounded the cast members at all times. Also, the use of three doors on the second floor of the set was used perfectly to introduce new characters. The set was built by Ryan Kelley and Chris Cook, the lighting designer was Arsenault and Brittany Reuther was the costumer.
In addition to doing the lighting and costumes, Arsenault and Reuther demonstrated to the cast members how these lighting and costumes are done in a professional production.
COMEDIC MR. COLLINS: Mr. Collins, played by Nathaniel Moura ’19, provided comedic relief throughout the play. Anna Roman ’18, Taylor Hooker ’19, Katie Crino ’18, Lindsay Boushall ’18, Jackson Meyer ’18, Rajshree Chettiyar ’19, Cameron Gunn ’19 (from left) were also on stage.
Overall, ATE’s performance of “Pride and Prejudice” was an enjoyable experience, and the cast members also enjoyed being in the production.
“Looking back at it now, I don’t remember all the hours we spent putting into the play, how much work it was, how tired I was, because when it came together, it made it that much more worth it,” said Cole Hoffman ’19, who portrayed Mr. Darcy. “You don’t remember all the hard things, you just remember the outcome and how fun the experience was.”
