Pride & Prejudice (Old Fitz) ★★½

Adapted by Kate Hamill. Based on the novel by Jane Austen. Australian Premiere. The Old Fitz Theatre. 14 Jan – 8 Feb, 2025.

This lo-fi adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic witty romance Pride & Prejudice has all the hallmarks of a fringe darling, and it very nearly manages to pull it off… nearly.

Kate Hamill’s reworking of Austen stays faithful to the plot while amplifying the laughs. There have been some trims, and a few characters have been cut (bye-bye, Kitty Bennett). Yes, it’s a bit odd to be presented with an Austen romance as an out-and-out comedy, but an irreverent take can often reveal more about the text. Purists will no doubt shriek (more on the shrieking later), but Hamill works hard for the laughs, even if it means drafting in pop culture references and modern, euphemistic readings of perfectly chaste words. Does it cheapen the source material? A bit, but Austen’s a big girl; her legacy will remain intact.

The cast of eight moves through a dizzying array of characters, frequently playing two at the same time. In this story of defying gender roles, the casting relies heavily on drag for easy laughs. AJ Evans hits the comedy beats hard as the scheming, overwrought Mrs Bennett. Steve Corner plays both Mr Bennett and Charlotte Lucas, Dylan O’Connor juggles triple duty as Mr Wickham, Mr Collins, and Miss Bingley, but it’s Victoria Abbott who plays both Mr Bingley and Mary Bennett, often in the same scene, who takes home the MVP crown. The cast is rounded out by Mym Kwa as Lydia Bennett and Lady Catherine, Lucy Lock as both Jane Bennett and Anne de Bourgh, Abbey Morgan as Elizabeth Bennett, and Idam Sondhi as Darcy.

For all of Austen’s own wit that’s been supplemented with extra gags, Pride & Prejudice ends up unfocused and, well, unfunny. The gentle comedy of manners clashes with the shrieking drag, and characters are inconsistent in their traits (e.g., Bingley acts like a literal dog… sometimes, but not others). Too often, multiple characters are screaming simultaneously, drowning out any other action on the stage. Some pitch their performances at high camp while others are trying to stay grounded. There are a few iconoclastic jokes (like Mary Bennett playing a Radiohead song on the piano), but not enough for them to become part of the show’s style. Instead, they pull you out of the moment. And then there are the dance numbers… I’m not really sure why they’re there.

Good comedy is all about timing and execution, and these are the two things that seem to weigh Pride & Prejudice down. There is a dullness and lack of focus to the action that buries punchlines, while other moments linger with no discernible purpose. Some performances are waiting for a laugh, others mumbling their lines making them incomprehensible. As for the romances? Well, as far as chemistry goes, these love matches were inert.

And yet… I didn’t find myself hating it like I have some other recent shows. While, on the whole, I didn’t find the show particularly funny, every performer did something that was ‘kind of’ funny enough for me to forgive the moments when things got muddy. There is something pleasantly likeable about this ensemble: they’re fine actors, but they’re just not a comedy troupe.

With more disciplined comedy direction and a sharper delivery (and a shorter running time), this Pride & Prejudice could be the kind of scrappy hit you tell all your friends about. At the moment, it’s just not quite getting there for me but others may be more on its wavelength – comedy is very subjective after all.

If you want more comedy Austen, I recommend Budget ’95 Pride & Prejudice on Youtube instead.