"The audience should come prepared to laugh and have a good time. I think after the last couple of years, we all need a good laugh," says Desiree Sanchez, artistic director for Aquila Theatre, the troupe that will bring "Pride and Prejudice" to the Walton Arts Center on Oct. 27 as part of the 10x10 Art Series.
"On the surface, it's a romantic comedy," Sanchez says, but "Austen has a way of highlighting inequities in society while still having a laugh and giving you a really great love story. A lot of her stories are reflective of the culture that she lived in, and she touches a lot on class differences and social inequities for women in particular. Obviously, that's a thing that's still prevalent today.
"The actors and myself came together to write the script," Sanchez goes on. "We started rehearsal on day one with no script. And it was part of our devising process to create it from the book, picking the relevant scenes that we felt spoke to us today. In that way, it's timely. It's Jane Austen, but it speaks to shared themes and issues that were going on back then and also now."
Part of that means acknowledging the mixed race family on stage, which involved a little rewriting.
"We haven't done colorblind casting," Sanchez says. "Instead of just having people of color play it as if they were white, we're actually acknowledging that -- basically adapting the story. So it could be seen through the circumstances, as if this was a mixed race family.
"We found that this was not something we had to necessarily put on the story, because [mixed race families] were not an unheard of situation back then in England, given the amount of people coming from the West Indies and the East Indies, of mixed race heritage ... who were heirs to various family estates. They were sent home to study or marry. We found some really interesting families to sort of be inspired by in terms of imagining how it would be if 'Pride and Prejudice' was written about a family that was mixed race."
Sanchez says that the mixed race family is only a minor change in the production.
"Everything is exactly the way the story unfolds, with the addition of maybe two lines that lead to their heritage. The whole story is very much Jane Austen. It's very witty. It's very fun. It's fast moving. It's hilarious."
One of the most remarkable elements of Aquila's production is there are only six actors in the cast. All play multiple roles from the 1813 novel except for the lead, Elizabeth Bennet.
"They're a very talented bunch ... People seem to really enjoy all the doubling," Sanchez says. "And I love the surprises at the end, when people are like, 'Oh, my gosh, I can't believe that was the same actor who played those two roles!'"
Audiences should also expect a fun, colorful set, too.
"We were really inspired by color. I don't know if this might even be caught by an audience member, but in terms of our creative process with design, we allowed colors from the West Indies, Jamaica and the islands of the Caribbean to really inform some of the color choices and our lighting," she says. "We wanted to be joyful, colorful, and really just wanted the actors to feel very light and airy. It does have an abstract feel, which I think allows us to move in and out of worlds and sets.
"We hope that all sorts of people are attracted to go to the theater," Sanchez concludes. "Obviously there's a lot of Jane Austen fans out there. And we've been seeing them in our audiences. Some even get dressed up, which is a lot of fun. Young and old alike seem to really enjoy this story."
"By you, I was properly humbled. I came to you without a doubt of my reception. You showed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased." (Courtesy Photo)
“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?” (Courtesy Photo)More News
NoneFAQ
Aquila Theatre:
‘Pride and Prejudice’
WHEN — 7 p.m. Oct. 27
WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville
COST — $10
INFO — waltonartscenter.org