a timely, entertaining offering of Pride and Prejudice

We should be thankful that the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts had the foresight to land a production of Jane Austen’s classical romantic novel just in time for its 200th anniversary.

Bermuda was treated to a quality production of Pride and Prejudice amidst hype and buzz surrounding it.

LA Theatre Works did a fantastic job of injecting new life into the play with high energy, performances throughout.

The actors and actresses chosen for the staged radio play were professional and entertaining. Standout performances came from (thankfully) Julia McIlvine and Nick Toren as the central characters Elizabeth Bennett and William Darcy, with good comical performances from Nicholas Hormann and Jane Carr as Mr and Mrs Bennett.

McIlvine captured the headstrong, wise Elizabeth, successfully portraying her as the big sister everyone wished they had, while Carr was larger than life as Mrs Bennett and a hit with the audience. Many characters had to perform multiple roles and Carr also pulled of a hilarious Catherine de Bourgh proving she was a good all rounder.

As a radio play, the stage lacked any significant setting but the floor to ceiling drape with images projected on to it made for a beautifully artistic backdrop and useful aid to the plot.

Admittedly, as a radio production, the play was not as visually appealing as a full-blown stage production and it never claimed it would be. The actors were largely restricted to their spots in front of the microphone stands, often having to face the audience rather than the character they were addressing which was just unavoidable. I’d love to see those same actors doing a full theatre production now.

I had hoped for greater use of the Foley desk — aside from injecting further life into the play, it would have offered more visual entertainment for the audience members.