Pride and Prejudice, the Arts Club’s current production at the Stanley, is remarkable first for Janet Munsil’s fine and faithful adaptation of Austen’s novel, capturing the tone and compressing the complexity of the story into just one evening’s entertainment.
Then it’s notable for the ingenuity of set designer Alison Green, creating drawing rooms, outdoor scenes and mansion houses on virtually a bare stage, and finally for the verve and vivacity of the excellent cast, beautifully costumed by Christine Reimer in empire gowns and gaiters.
David Marr, whose career has gone from Burnaby to national stages and productions, delivers Mr. Bennet’s epigrams with just the right amount of dry wit, as the long-suffering spouse of the giddy Mrs. Bennet, excellently done over-the-top by Katey Wright, also with Burnaby connections.
Leads Naomi Wright and Eric Craig are good as the romantic couple overcoming his pride and her prejudice, helped along by the interfering dowager Lady Catherine de Bourgh, done to a T by Shirley Broderick. Sarah Donald and Daniel Deorkson do double duty providing incidental music, and playing Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner.
All the rest of the cast keep up the lively pace, from the giddy younger sisters to the attentive gentlemen, with Scott Bellis as the obsequious and obnoxious Mr. Collins, who reappears as the formidable Pemberly housekeeper.
It’s well worth a visit to the Stanley, where Pride and Prejudice is on until Feb. 28. For information and tickets, call 604-687-1644 or see www.artsclub.com.
The Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage is at 2750 Granville St., Vancouver.
