THE WICKHAMS Comes to ActorsNET This Week

ActorsNET is revisiting the Pemberley estate with Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s THE WICKHAMS, a companion piece to last season’s “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley.”  Jane Austen’s beloved characters take the Heritage Center stage once again from December 1 to December 17. 

THE WICKHAMS takes place two years after the events of “Pride and Prejudice,” and at the same time as the action of “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” - just a floor below, in the servants’ quarters. After the success of Miss Bennet, the director, Erin Leder, returns to ActorsNET to continue her work with the Jane Austen universe. 

“I'm thrilled to be returning to direct this year's Christmas at Pemberley. Last year's Miss Bennet was such a heartfelt, charming, and often funny story and The Wickhams brings with it much of that same flair, along with a new perspective on the traditional Jane Austen love and power-struggle story. I am so looking forward to watching our cast and creative team present a play that audiences will devour with delight!” says Leder. 

Charlotte Kirkby, one of the show’s producers, states: “Last year, I was lucky enough to play Mary Bennet in Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, where we followed the lives of the gentry upstairs. Now, it is my privilege to help the other half of the story unfold. This time, the staff of Pemberley are the stars!"

Mrs. Reynolds (Laurie Hardy), a no-nonsense housekeeper; Cassie (Alyssa Capel), an eager new maid; and Brian (Justin Mancini), a lovesick footman, are bustling with preparations for holiday guests. However, their work is interrupted when an unwelcome visitor stumbles into the hall in the middle of the night—Mr. Darcy’s nemesis and Lydia’s incorrigible husband: Mr. George Wickham (Parker Madison). That’s right! The scoundrel Wickham has returned to the Pemberley estate in order to woo back Lydia (Francine Odri) and is staying in the servants’ quarters, unbeknownst to the Darcys (D. Ryan Lafferty and Maryalice Rubins-Topoleski). 

“The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” is directed by Erin Leder. The show stars Laurie Hardy as Mrs. Reynolds, Justin Mancini as Brian, Alyssa Capel as Cassie, D. Ryan Lafferty as Fitzwilliam Darcy, Maryalice-Rubins Topoleski as Elizabeth Darcy, Parker Madison as George Wickham, and Francine Odri as Lydia Wickham.  The play is produced by Maryalice Rubins-Topoleski, Hayley Rubins-Topoleski, and Charlotte Kirkby, and stage managed by Em Ricciardi with assistance from Terri Bentley. 

The Heritage Center Theatre is located at 635 North Delmorr Avenue, Morrisville – near the Calhoun Street Bridge.  Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. There will be a special Saturday matinee at 2:00 p.m. on December 16th in addition to the regularly scheduled evening performance. Doors open half an hour before show time. “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com) 

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