Review of 'Pride and Prejudice' at Chantilly High School

From Chantilly HS: Those who have read Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice are familiar with the flirtatious and oftentimes hilarious antics of the Bennet family and their acquaintances. Chantilly High School brought the stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice not only to the stage, but into the audience's hearts with sequences of laughing, crying, and superfluous bowing.Pride and Prejudice is a moving portrait of Georgian England during the Regency Era.

The time period is suggested by the fact that the entire plot hinges upon the Bennet daughters finding suitable husbands to ease their mother's poor, poor nerves', as well as to ensure that the entire family does not fall destitute upon their father's death. The pursuits of the Bennet girls are accelerated when Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, rich young gentlemen from the north, rent the manor of Nethersfield nearby to the Bennet's home. While Mr. Bingley falls almost immediately for the eldest Bennet, Jane, Mr. Darcy has a harder time warming up to the Bennet family. The protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, has little appreciation for the wiles of marriage, and it is only after she overcomes her prejudice, and Darcy his pride, that they realize they may have misjudged each other initially.

With the help of subplots and side characters, Pride and Prejudice leaves the audience with a stitch in their side and a tear in their eye.Chantilly High School's Pride and Prejudice exceeded expectations, with every actor creating their own appropriate characterization for the pallet of characters. Each actor had distinct, if not perfect, accents that cemented the show in the English countryside. Actors played incredibly off of each other, creating tense moments that clenched the hearts of the audience, complemented by hilarious banter that elicited roaring laughter and surprised snorts from many audience members. The character choices of Alex Yee and Aris Stovall as Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet created palpable admiration and visible tension, which was supplemented by dramatic, well thought-out blocking. Contrasting with this, the sweet, subtle looks shared by Emanuele di Prima and Caroline Woodson as Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet let the audience know the character's true feelings without the use of words.

The audience was putty in the hands of Annie Silva as Mrs. Bennet, artfully playing up the meddling, easily perturbed mother of three young women. Something as small as pantomimed entrance from Silva milked uproar from the audience, which sometimes drew focus but often contributed to comedic tone. On the technical side, the use of gobos to cast shadows on the sets allowed for a creative approach to placing the audience in the scene. The gobos said almost as much about the characters as their costumes, which were created almost solely by students, including the ornate beading on Elizabeth's ball gown. Such attention to detail was also present on the set, where the use of three spinning periaktos combined with windows provided for several possible set combinations. They adorned the set with a range of colorful wall designs and furniture to differentiate between households and social statuses, all while complying periodically with the direction of the script. These minute details, combined with period props, contributed as much to the story as the action. While some set adornments fell askew during the show, the attention to detail in the set and its dressings created a believably ornate background.Pride and Prejudice at Chantilly High School was a wonderfully designed and performed show, creative in both technical and performing aspects. All facets of the show combined to create a charming retelling of Jane Austen's classic novel on the stage.

Image Courtesy of Chantilly HS