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Elizabeth Bennett, The Girl and Mr. Darcy in Adapt Theatre’s production of Pride and Prejudice.
K. sez:
Pride and Prejudice at Adapt Theatre is a delight. even at 3-+ hours. Using the framing device of an awkward teenage girl (Laila Sauer) who resists reading the book, adapter Lane Flores and director Amanda Lautermilch create a version faithful to the original but with a youthful and contemporary feel. Aja Wiltshire is a lovely Elizabeth, with just the right balance of snark and sweetness, and Andrew Thorp makes persuasive Darcy’s transformation from pompous asshole to gentleman lover. And of course any shy young girl obsessed with music would find herself turning into Georgiana! Cassandra Laine and Melissa Reeves uphold the honor of the older generation as Mrs. Bennet and Lady Catherine, each appalling in her own way, and Connor Konz takes a part that’s been done by A-listers like Alan Cumming and makes it his own: he could hardly be smarmier or more self-satisfied or more ludicrous. Some of the choices are a little strange—why is Mary wearing headgear and combat boots, again?—but others are terrific, like the weird instrument Mary insists on playing to Lizzy’s humiliation and the disapprobation of all.
If these names mean nothing to you, it’s time to get acquainted with Pride & Prejudice, and Adapt Theatre provides the close-to-ideal introduction. And if you know exactly who I’m talking about, prepare to spend an afternoon or evening smiling as you hear dialogue directly from the book spoken by people who clearly love Jane Austen as much as you do. And at $20 ($15 for students and seniors), you can’t beat the price! At the (tiny) side project in Rogers Park through April 10, unless we get lucky and they extend it.
Butler (which, come to think of it, could be called “Pride & Prejudice” itself!) is about as likely as a unicorn: a comedy about slavery and the Civil War. But a very smart script by Richard Strand, impeccable direction by Stuart Carden and especially the comic chops of the four-man company make both moving and hilarious this fictional re-telling of a real incident which helped turn the tide against the Fugitive Slave Act. Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler (the outstanding —no, astonishing!—Greg Vinkler) has just taken command of Fort Monroe, a Union outpost in Virginia, when escaped slave Shepard Mallory (Tosin Morohunfola, whom I’ve somehow never seen before but can’t wait to see again) shows up demanding sanctuary. Their battle of wits, interspersed with commentary by Nate Burger as the General’s adjutant and high Confederate swanning by Tim Monsion as the officer sent to retrieve Mallory, is funny and profound and touching all at the same time. The most intense pleasure of the evening arises from Strand’s observation that these two apparent opposites—the black slave and the white general—are actually exactly alike. Northlight’s production runs through April 17 at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie.
Angela Tallis March 28, 2016 at 6:17 pm “A VERY SMART SCRIPT, IMPECCABLE DIRECTION AND COMIC CHOPS MAKE BOTH MOVING AND HILARIOUS THIS FICTIONAL RE-TELLING OF A REAL INCIDENT. DUELING CRITICS” Quotation (sort of ) on the 11″x6″ full-color postcard I received from Northlight Theatre yesterday. I planned to attend anyway. Greg Vinkler takes such pleasure in his acting that he never disappoints an audience. I’ve seen him in many roles and been blessed to do so each time.
“A VERY SMART SCRIPT, IMPECCABLE DIRECTION AND COMIC CHOPS MAKE BOTH MOVING AND HILARIOUS THIS FICTIONAL RE-TELLING OF A REAL INCIDENT. DUELING CRITICS” Quotation (sort of ) on the 11″x6″ full-color postcard I received from Northlight Theatre yesterday. I planned to attend anyway. Greg Vinkler takes such pleasure in his acting that he never disappoints an audience. I’ve seen him in many roles and been blessed to do so each time.
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Kelly Kleiman at the Huffington Post Jonathan Abarbanel at the Windy City Times