SENSE AND SENSIBILITY Will Come to Whidbey Island Center for the Arts
Performances run April 10-25.
Georgian England willc ome to the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA) April 10-25 with a fresh adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. By award-winning playwright Kate Hamill, the WICA production will be directed by Rose Woods, recently of WICA's Justice and A Room in the Castle. Full of humor and emotional depth, the production is an inspired take on Austen's treasured novel and will open on WICA's newly renovated Mainstage in a bright, bold, and theatrical way.
Set in the late 18th century, Sense and Sensibility centers on sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, whose lives are turned upside down when their father dies suddenly, leaving them penniless and with reputations at stake. Together, the women must learn to mix sense with sensibility to find happiness in a society where love is ruled by money.
“This is more than just a romance. It is a story of two strong women who carve out their own identities,” says WICA Executive Artistic Director Deana Duncan. “It's beautiful to see them navigate what ‘sense' and ‘sensibility' mean to them. Austen has been beloved for more than two centuries for the characters she brings to life in her novels, and we're thrilled to honor her work in our very own, modern production of this iconic story.”
“At a time when the world feels both tender and uncertain, Sense and Sensibility offers us a way to hold both heart and steadiness. On Whidbey Island, where our community asks us to show up for one another again and again, Kate Hamill's adaptation feels especially alive—playful, immediate, and deeply human,” added Rose Woods. “The gossips of Austen's world—so comedic and ever-present—feel strikingly familiar, reminding us how quickly stories can take hold and how deeply we are shaped by the narratives around us. And yet, at its core, this play is about resilience—not hardening, but staying open: to love, to loss, to laughter, and to each other. In a world pulling us toward extremes, it invites us back into balance—and into the kind of connection that sustains us.”
Hamill's adaptation has been praised by the American Theatre for revitalizing Austen's work “for modern audiences through a fast-paced, high-energy, and theatrical approach, emphasizing feminist agency and social critique. It breaks from polite period-drama conventions by employing bold theatricality, such as gossipers acting as scenery, to mirror the intense pressures of society.”
For Hamill, adapting this beloved play was also about creating more roles on stage for women. “I decided that if there were going to be more classical roles for women, I would need to write them,” she said in an interview with Folger Theatre.
Videos