By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by Tim Fuller
Romance is the gift that keeps on giving for Mary Bennet (Jessica Jain) and Arthur de Bourgh (Seth Tucker) when they meet at Pemberley.
Add some Jane Austen atmosphere to your family holiday celebrations this Christmas season with tickets to “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” produced by the Arizona Theatre Company, playing through Dec. 4 at the downtown Temple of Music and Art.
Although you needn't be an ardent fan of Austen's classic books about strong willed Englishwomen some 200 years ago, it does help to have an appreciation for that period of exceptional manners, upscale fashions and devotion to doing the right thing.
Just to get a feel for the tone here, keep in mind “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” was written in 2017 by the multiple award-winning playwright Lauren Gunderson (“Silent Sky,” “I and You”) with co-writer Margot Melcon.
This pair of playwrights sought to amplify what the Darcy household and subsequent lives of the Bennet sisters could have been like in 1815, two years after the book closed on “Pride and Prejudice.”
We pick up the story of Elizabeth, nee Bennet, Darcy (Alexis Bronkovic) and the swoon-worthy Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy (John Patrick Hayden) in their ever-gracious Pemberley home a few days before Christmas as friends and family are beginning to arrive.
On the guest list are unmarried middle sister Mary Bennet (Jessica Jain), older sister and pregnant Jane Bingley (Shonda Royall) with her husband Charles Bingley (John Gregorio), younger sister Lydia Wickham (Elena Lucia Quach), also Anne de Bourgh (Veronika Duerr) and the recently wealthy young bachelor Arthur de Bourgh (Seth Tucker).
It takes all of the first act to get everybody introduced and their relationships established. Arthur starts out painfully shy, believing all commitments are fully expected to last forever and thus feels reluctant to begin any. As events evolve toward Christmas Day he does acquire some fiber and becomes lovably nerdy.
Mary (the Bennet to which the play's title refers) is dedicated to acquiring knowledge and playing piano. No matter where she may be, the library is always her favorite room. Consequently, Arthur always knows where to find her.
Of the two, she does get the best lines. But nobody is fooling anybody here. We all know how this is supposed to turn out for Mary and Arthur.
Domestic bliss does remain elusive however. The men, confident in their collective role as the-people-who-run-everything, have decided patience is the better part of valor. They let the women talk, while they sit peacefully by before making their decisions.
Charles Bingley, the expectant father, becomes the picture of ineptness in a comic sidelight scene as he tries to assemble a crib, clumsily anticipating the arrival of his firstborn.
Mary, filled with sadness and anger at the imbalances placed in her own life, pounds out Beethoven on the piano, searching for some relief. Who will help her, she wonders... and why aren't there better rules to make men and women more truly equal.
There are many other moments depicting the way culture wars were waged among the upper classes in the early 19th century, but don't let today's overly sensitive feelings interfere with enjoying the genuine togetherness of the Darcys' Yuletide intentions. Love does conquer all, in the end.
Peace on Earth and good will to men is how we remember Christmases past. ATC is good with that. So let the jolly good warmth of British tradition warm your own holiday, as well.
“Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” runs through Dec. 4, with performances at various times Tuesdays through Sundays in the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Tickets are $50-$83. The show runs two hours twenty-five minutes, including intermission.
According to ATC's COVID protocol, the actors on stage will not be masked, but all ATC staff, volunteers and audience members will be asked to wear masks indoors. The Temple Bar will open an hour before curtain and at intermission, offering beverages and snacks.
For further details and reservations, 520-622-2823, or visit arizonatheatre.org
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