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Truths universally acknowledged…

IPFW brings beloved Pride & Prejudice to the stage

By Eddie Torres

Fort Wayne Reader

2017-12-02

A music journalist I once read had a theory about hugely influential and popular rock bands — the legions of imitators they inspired often took the wrong lessons from their heroes. Bands that looked up to The Beatles thought they had to write their own songs. Bands that looked to The Rolling Stones thought they had to be rebellious. Bands that looked to Led Zeppelin thought they had to be loud…

What does all this have to do with Jane Austen and Pride & Prejudice? Because if the theory can be applied to literature, then the legions of romance and rom-com writers who took Austen’s novel as their template got the wrong lesson from it — they thought “I’ve loved you all along” was the most interesting part of the whole story.

Arguably one of the most beloved works in all of English literature, Pride & Prejudice was way ahead of its time, and one of the reasons the novel continues to speak to so many people over 200 years later is because among all the manners and mores of Georgean England lurks a modern sensibility, an insightful wit, and an understanding of human nature that still rings true. The cast of characters, the locations, the scenes, are all so vivid that the question of whether or not Lizzie and Darcy get together seems almost beside the point.

IPFW’s production of Pride & Prejudice (beginning its run on December 1) doesn’t take liberties with the story — it’s faithful to the original, using Marcus Goodwin’s acclaimed stage adaptation to depict Austen’s world. In his notes for the production, director Craig Humphrey writes “Goodwin’s play has a theatrical style that allows us to tell this familiar story in a unique way. With a change of lighting or the simple movement of chairs we follow Lizzie from one chapter of her life to the next. We meet the vivid characters who influence her actions and we visit the much beloved locations, but we do so with Lizzie at the center of it all.”

Humphrey adds: “Goodwin’s adaptation allows us to see Pride and Prejudice not only as a romance, but also as a comedy of manners. Around the two central love stories of Lizzie and Darcy, and of Jane and Bingley, swirl a cavalcade of characters who reflect the absurdities and follies of the strict social manners of Austen’s England.”

IPFW Department of Theater presents Pride & Prejudice
Williams Theater

Fridays, December 1 and 8 at 8pm
Sunday, December 3 at 2pm
Thursday December 7 at 8pm
Saturdays, December 2 and 9 at 8pm

Tickets: $5 IPFW Students/ High School Students/Children Under 18; $16 Adults; $14 Seniors/Faculty/Staff/Alumni; $12 Groups of 10 or More; $12 Other College students with ID
Children under 6 will not be admitted.
www.ipfw.edu/theatre
Purchase Tickets Online: ipfw.edu/tickets
By Phone: 260-481-6555_TTD: 260-481-4105
In person: Gates Athletic Center, Room 126. Open Monday – Friday, 12:30 – 6:30 p.m.