Through 9/29

Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, now at the Cleveland Play House, tries to have fun with the “game of love.” To some extent, director Michael Barakiva and his versatile cast of eight succeeded last Friday night, but at times the effort of creating a farce and simultaneously replicating Austen’s 1813 novel overwhelmed them.

Hamill’s play asks a lot of both actors and audience as it meshes social memes satirized by Austen (women had to marry, men had to live with honor) with the most obnoxious elements of current culture (celebration of ego, plus whatever—you fill in the blanks).

In fairness, I should add that in some cases humor (and irony) arrived thanks to good dual role casting. What does this mean? Two pairings worked brilliantly.

One was Colleen Longshaw Jackson as both Mrs. Bennet (the mother anxious to marry off her daughters to save the family from financial ruin) and Lady Catherine De Bourgh (the wealthy woman obsessed with social status).

The second pairing created equally effective reflections: Christopher M. Bohan as both Mr. Bennet (the man who put up with Mrs. Bennet as his wife) and Charlotte Lucas (the woman who endured marriage with the idiotic clergyman, Mr. Collins). Bohan made clear that both shared an air of earned sacrifice for the welfare of society.

Alfredo J. Ruiz took on triple roles, playing Mr. Collins as well as Mr. Wickham (a villain), plus the mysterious Miss Bingley. I suppose one might surmise that clergy can be con men (as Wickham was), but I am not going there.

Only two sisters are not given dual roles. Hamil cuts one Bennet sister, Kitty, out of the story (no problem, in the novel she had a bad cough, so she probably died), but actors playing the remaining four sisters expressed unique and lively personalities.

Lizzy Bennet (an earnest Marianna Gailus) and Jane Bennett (Shunte Lofton, a sweet and loving support sister for Lizzy) played only one character. Lydia Bennet (Ari Derambakhsh) also played the stuffy Miss De Brough. Mary Bennet (Christian Pedersen) also took the role of Jane’s love, Mr. Bingley. (In the novel Mary was proud of being the tallest sister, so I suppose she was most suitable to be Mr. Bingley, but Pedersen’s Mary was more awkward than funny).

The handsome Mr. Darcy (a handsome Reece Dos Santos) appeared as needed, but Hamill gave him short shrift in the script.

Good farce springs naturally from quick surprises due to set failures or surprising plot twists or  mistaken identities, but satiric jokes Saturday night seemed labored and sometimes crude, such as when Darcy treated the good-natured Bingley as his pet hound and tossed him a red ball to retrieve. At times tingling bells symbolized something, but whatever it was, I missed.

An ensemble made up of Madalyn Baker, Byron Johnson, Brendan Lowry, Christina McSheffrey, Calder Meis, Meredith Nelson, and Adam Ortega appeared as needed to play servants.

Other credits should go to scenic designer Lex Liang, costume designer Olivera Gajic, lighting designer Erica Lauren Maholmes, sound designer Angie Hayes, wig designer Amanda Miller, choreographer Lauren Marousek, and assistant director Esma Eddeb.

Bottom Line: The cast gave it their all, although sometimes too loudly and with too much repetitive slapstick. In addition (this sounds ironic), the action moved too slowly. Farce depends on quick timing and satire depends on wit (not just looking silly and shouting). A few more performances may take care of that, but I wish the director had insisted on a quicker pace.

A personal plus: The play inspired me to reread Pride and Prejudice. Can’t beat Jane Austen for funny.

[Written by Laura Kennelly]

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• Laura Kennelly
• Theatre
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