The Midnight Train Crossing

I love the book Pride and Prejudice - I've read it many times, and I've seen a few movie versions of it, so I know the plot really well, and I can even recite certain scenes. So yes, I'm very familiar with the story. That said, even though I knew what was coming, even down to the lines, the production done by the Rep made me laugh so very hard.

First, as usual, I want to comment about the set. There were a suggestion of windows near the rear of the stage, so the action behind them was "outside". They had three different light fixtures that lowered from the ceiling, depending on what building they were in.
There was a piano, a chair and a table, and a couch sort of thing. They kept moving the furniture around to indicate different places. It worked really well - sometimes they'd actually be moving the furniture during the scene.

There are many different scenes in Pride and Prejudice, and a lot of time passes, and they transitioned seamlessly from one into another, since all that was needed was to just rearrange the furniture. I think that was very impressive - it made the show move very quickly. The show was very long - more than two hours - but it didn't seem like it at all.
For example, Elizabeth is about to walk to Netherfield.
"You can't walk that far," says her mother
"Yes I can," she says, putting on her shawl, and walking across the stage "it's only-"
"Three miles??" Caroline gasps, entering the stage and stopping Elizabeth.

So, highlights in the cast: Mr Bennet (Jonathan Gillard Daly), Mrs Bennet (Laura Gordon), Mr Collins (Brian Vaughn), Lydia (Emily Vitrano), Elizabeth (Lee Stark) and Mr Darcy (Grant Goodman).

Mr Bennet and Mrs Bennet played very well off each other. He had a very good deadpan expression as he delivered some of his lines, but he was not cold and standoffish either. I thought that was very nice - I could actually see the relationship between him and Elizabeth. His interactions with Mr Collins were wonderful too - Mr Bennet was heavily sarcastic, but all his sarcasm flew right over Mr Collins' head.
I thought it was funny when he was lamenting about how foolish his younger daughters are. And most importantly, my favorite Mr Bennet line was perfectly delivered - when Elizabeth refuses Mr Collins.

The best part about Mrs Bennet was how quickly she would change her mind about things, Mr Bingley was a dreadful person of terrible character… until he proposed to Jane, then she's always liked him.
Some other great lines on her part, she's not going to talk about Mr Bingley any longer - she was just telling Mrs Lucas that. And about her poor nerves, and her children just don't understand, but those who don't complain never get any sympathy.

From the moment that Mr Collins entered the scene, I knew that I was in for a good show. Some how, just by standing there in a silly hat, he conveyed how silly and oily he was. He had the perfect way of speaking as well - just on the edge of annoying. In this sort of story, the characters tend to speak very properly, and use lots of big formal words, but Mr Collins sounded like he was trying too hard to be impressive (as he's supposed to). The best thing was how he would say "Lady Catherine de Bourgh" - the name of his patroness. "Lady Catherine de Booourrrgh". When Darcy would say her name, it was not nearly as drawn out. The proposal scene was hilarious, especially when he refused to take "No" for an answer.
I thought it was interesting during the ball that Mr Collins attended, where Elizabeth first agreed to dance with Darcy, in order to keep from dancing with Collins, then Collins danced with Mary. Actually, I think that he and Mary would have made a good pairing the way they acted on stage. (Of course, he ends up with Charlotte).

I think that I could not make up my mind about Lydia. She and Kitty (Eva Balisterieri) were very funny during the first act, when they would run around giggling. There were the required officers that they giggled over, and took bonnet shopping. I know that she's meant to be a little annoying, and finally I decided that she was a valley girl. She had a strange accent though, the way she would say some words, I had no idea what part of the world it was supposed to be from. But, I give her credit, she really brought Lydia to life the way I've imagined her. I don't feel sorry for her at the end, when she's married to Wickham, she definitely deserves it. She didn't even know what she had done.

Elizabeth and Darcy were both fantastic - they really brought their characters to life. The best scenes were them interacting with each other… a definite dislike at first, and then progressively shyer and more awkward until the end.
Some excellent staging made it very clear that Darcy did not like the group of people, he stood off to the side, often not facing them. Charlotte actually commented: "Maybe, when he is finished making the acquaintance of the wall, he would like to dance"

The failed proposal scene was great fun - he burst in and scared her and looked sufficiently agitated.

But I think that one of my favorite scenes in the whole play is something that deviates from the book a little. In the book, Mr Darcy comes to Elizabeth, hands her a letter, and then leaves. The rest of that chapter is her reading the letter in which he explains what happened with Jane and Bingley, and what happened with Wickham. Reading a letter does not look very good on stage, so they staged it a little differently. Darcy came to see her, and told her the whole story. On one side of the stage, Jane and Bingley were dancing. Darcy said that he had no problem with Bingley and Jane until something that Mr Lucas said (Mr Lucas enters and says the appropriate line about Bingley and Jane getting married) that made him take notice. He watched them for awhile, but felt convinced that Jane did not return Bingley's feelings (Enter Charlotte, telling Elizabeth that Jane needed to display her feelings more openly).
Then, onto Wickham, who enters and stands off to the side. Darcy tells the story, with Wickham occasionally putting in lines. And then, enter Darcy's sister. They mimed Wickham flirting with her, and kissing her, and then she ran off upset, at the point in Darcy's narration where he said that she was broken-hearted.
It's a bit awkward to describe, but it was so very awesome.

Mr Gardiner (Peter Silbert) and Mrs Gardiner (Carey Cannon) were also nicely done - they were a very cute couple. He was teasing her about how they were going to stay at the "little inn in the little town of little Lambton" - which is just down the road from Darcy's estate.

The scene where Darcy and Elizabeth meet in his own home was the best. It was the first time all show that Darcy was not in command of himself - even when he was nervous about proposing, and nervous about explaining himself, he was still in control. In this scene, he was more relaxed - and it definitely showed.

At the end of the play, Darcy and Elizabeth were talking, and as they were talking, they were drifting about the stage in the same movements that they did in their very, rather awkward dance. I thought that was a nice touch, and a nice ending - and Mr Darcy was my favorite character.

All the major events of the book were covered - the only thing that was cut was when Jane visits Caroline in London and doesn't see Bingley. But, the story flowed nicely, and despite being long, and with sometimes difficult dialogue, the story did not drag at all. I laughed much harder than I expected to. This was my first show at the Rep, and so far, it looks to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.