Pride and Prejudice at The Ruth

I spent a wonderful afternoon with both my sisters at The Ruth seeing Pride and Prejudice yesterday (we are big Jane Austen fans).  I really love this specific adaptation by Melissa Leilani Larson and I always try to see it whenever it is playing (this was my fifth production).  When Mr. Bingley (Braden Clement), a single man in possession of a fortune, lets Netherfield Hall, Mrs. Bennett (Anne Post Fife) immediately sets her sights on him as a possible husband for one of her five daughters.  Bingley falls in love with the beautiful Jane (Kylee Thurman) but her sister Elizabeth (Elena Belen Shill) takes an immediate dislike to his friend Mr. Darcy (James Carter) because he is so aloof and disdainful.  Elizabeth must overcome her prejudice and Mr. Darcy must overcome his pride for them to realize that they belong together.  The actress playing Mrs. Bennett is deaf and she signs all of her lines while her daughters translate for everyone in the scene and the audience.  I have to admit that when I first heard about this casting choice I thought it would be really distracting but including Fife really adds a deeper understanding of the family dynamic because her daughters translate for her in character.  This is especially true for Lydia (Sydney Claire Olson), because she translates in a bored monotone, and for Mary (Emma Lamm), because she becomes despondent when she translates her mother's praise for Elizabeth to Mr. Collins (Anthony Tibolla).  There are also lots of comedic interactions with Fife, such as when Elizabeth signs very aggressively to tell her mother that she refuses to marry Mr. Collins and when Mr. Bennett (Marshall Lamm) shakes the clacker that she uses to get attention back at her.  However, my favorite moment was when Darcy signs to Mrs. Bennett because this is yet another way for him to show his respect for Elizabeth and her family (everyone sitting near me said "awe" in unison at this moment).  I thoroughly enjoyed Fife's performance and it was very moving to see the audience use the sign for applause during her bows.  I also enjoyed Shill and Carter, because they have tremendous chemistry when they spar back and forth, as well as Tibolla and Lamm, because they made me laugh out loud multiple times (both are absolutely hilarious when they dance).  One of the aspects of this adaptation that really works for me is the way that letters between the characters are incorporated and I loved the way it is portrayed in this production, especially the unsent letters between Jane and Bingley (it is so clever and so romantic).  The set is minimal but effective (I liked the way different areas of the theater are used as set pieces are brought to the stage), the regency costumes are gorgeous (especially all of the embellished fabrics), and the lighting design does a brilliant job of highlighting vignettes within scenes. Finally, I loved the orchestral arrangements of pop songs used in between scenes.  My favorites were "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye when Bingley leaves Netherfield and Jane leaves Longbourn, "Royals" by Lorde when Elizabeth visits Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Delayne Bluth Dayton), "Trouble" by Taylor Swift when Elizabeth learns that Darcy separated Bingley and Jane, and "Single Ladies" by Beyonce during the bows.  Both of my sisters and I loved this charming production (we agree that it is our favorite version of this show) and we highly recommend it!  Go here for tickets to one of the remaining performances in the Lindsay Legacy Theatre through November 7.

Note:  The Ruth's current production of The Addams Family is also my favorite version of that show (go here for tickets) so they are really knocking it out of the park at the moment (a little baseball reference in honor of the playoffs).