Brisbane review - Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of): Funny, clever, gloriously silly

By David Wilson

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of)

By Isobel McArthur after Jane Austen

Directed by Simon Harvey

Associate Direction and Choreography by Simon Gault

Set and Costume Design by Ana Ines Jabares-Pita

At the Playhouse Theatre, QPAC

Now until 18 October 2026

Tickets from $69 to $149

https://prideandprejudicesortof.com.au/

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has been adapted for stage and screen countless times, but it is difficult to imagine too many versions quite like Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of), Isobel McArthur's wonderfully irreverent reworking of Austen's much-loved novel.

First produced at Glasgow's Tron Theatre in 2018, the production eventually made its way to London's West End, where it won the 2022 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play. It now arrives at QPAC as part of its first Australian tour with an outstanding five-member Australian cast.

The premise is clever from the outset. Austen's familiar story is presented through the eyes of five servants who, when not attending to the endless demands of their employers, take it upon themselves to tell us the story, playing virtually everybody in it.

What follows is recognisably Pride and Prejudice, but certainly not as Jane Austen could ever have imagined it. Period costumes and Regency manners collide with contemporary language, wonderfully silly physical comedy and karaoke renditions of pop classics.

The remarkable thing is that beneath all the madness, McArthur retains both the story and spirit of Austen's original. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy remain at its heart, as do Austen's observations about love, marriage, money, class and the limited choices available to women. The production may poke enormous fun at the world Austen created, but it does so with considerable affection.

Much of the success of the evening rests with its terrific cast of five, each playing several roles and often switching characters at an extraordinary pace.

Teo Vergara delivers an enormously likeable Elizabeth Bennet, filling her with plenty of intelligence, independence and contemporary attitude while still retaining the essence of Austen's character. Vergara also provides the necessary emotional centre amongst the chaos, particularly as Elizabeth's initially antagonistic relationship with Darcy gradually develops into something more.

Zoe Ioannou is hilarious as Mrs Bennet before undergoing perhaps the evening's most unlikely transformation to become Fitzwilliam Darcy. It shouldn't really work, yet somehow it does - brilliantly. Her Darcy is suitably aloof and awkward, and the developing relationship between Ioannou and Vergara gives the production genuine warmth amongst the laughs.

Amy Lehpamer clearly has great fun magnificently moving between Charlotte Lucas, Charles Bingley and the thoroughly unpleasant Miss Bingley. Kaori Maeda-Judge takes on Jane Bennet, George Wickham and the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, while Ruby Shannon almost steals proceedings at times with her wonderfully ridiculous Mister Collins, in addition to playing Mary and Lydia Bennet and Mrs Gardiner. It is hard to believe that this production is Shannon’s professional theatre debut - brava!

Individually the cast are all amazing, collectively they are simply superb. The speed with which they change characters, costumes, accents and physical mannerisms is incredible, and there is rarely any doubt about who is who. Even the costume changes frequently become part of a joke the audience feels in on.

There is a deliberately playful, almost homemade quality to some of the theatricality, which suits the production perfectly. Ana Ines Jabares-Pita's set, dominated by a large staircase and bookcase, provides an effective playground for the action, while the period-inspired costumes keep the production visually connected to Austen's world even as almost everything else hilariously departs from it.

Director Simon Harvey keeps proceedings moving at a cracking pace. There is slapstick, audience interaction, exaggerated characterisation, karaoke and more than a little chaos, but the production never feels as though it has lost control. Just when the comedy threatens to completely overwhelm Austen's story, there is enough space for Elizabeth and Darcy to draw us back into it.

That cleverly achieved balance is ultimately what makes Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) work so well. It would have been easy for the concept to become little more than an extended Austen parody. Instead, it is clearly created by people who understand why Pride and Prejudice has remained so popular for more than two centuries.

You certainly don't need to be an Austen devotee to enjoy it, although those familiar with the novel will undoubtedly find another level of humour in the treatment of its characters and situations. Equally, anyone who has previously regarded Pride and Prejudice as something rather formal and stuffy may be very pleasantly surprised.

Funny, clever, gloriously silly and performed by five exceptionally talented women, Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) is an enormously entertaining night at the theatre. It expertly manages the difficult trick of sending up a classic while never losing sight of what made it a classic in the first place. Brilliant.