Review: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE* *SORT OF, Tron Theatre, Glasgow

Pride and Prejudice* *Sort Of opens with five women that you might know, but not be able to place. They are present in every Jane Austen novel but rarely noticed. The servants don't have their story told and they don't get a happily ever after- but they do see and hear everything..

Having these women narrate the play allows them to step in to bring us up to speed on some of the background of the story. Mrs Bennett has five daughters and is desperate to marry them off before her husband dies. The narrators explain that in these times women can't inherit money or property so unless one of his daughters marries and gives him a son-in-law the family will lose everything.

The script is fresh, modern and wonderfully Glaswegian as the youngest Bennett sister is introduced as "an attention seeking wee bam". While the plot is very much the same as the original novel it is the modernisations that make this production special. Period costumes are worn but the town ball is more of a school disco and affection is shown as the courting couples duet on the karaoke. Or in the case of the self-involved Mr Darcy, Elizabeth Bennett takes to the stage to dedicate her performance of "You're So Vain" to him.

What really makes this production unique is the multiple roles played by the five women onstage. Hannah Jarrett-Scott, in particular, excels as Charlotte Lucas, Charles Bingley and his sister Miss Bingley. Isobel McArthur (who also wrote the play- after Jane Austen) manages to pull off both hysterical Mrs Bennett and the aloof Mr Darcy. The sheer effort that goes into having the cast play so many roles is admirable and has excellent comedic effect.

Pride and Prejudice* *Sort Of is a fresh and original take on a classic. McArthur's script has its tongue firmly in its cheek and when period costumes collide with modern objects (for example Elizabeth Bennett eating Frosties straight from the box) it comes across as charming rather than farcical. Although the play is satirical in places you never feel as though the original text is being unfairly spoofed and the staging suggests that this is more of a love letter to Pride and Prejudice than any kind of mockery.

Pride and Prejudice* *Sort Of runs at the Tron Theatre until July 14th.

Photo credit: John Johnston

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