Pride and Prejudice, a play

By Janet Munsil

New, revised edition for 2016. Janet Munsil's witty, romantic, and ingenious adaptation of Jane Austen's beloved tale of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy is remarkable for capturing the tone and compressing the complexity of the story into a fast-paced, funny, and fiercely romantic two hours on stage. Sold-out and held-over in numerous large professional theatres, including Canada's National Arts Centre, Theatre Calgary, and The Arts Club Stanley Theatre, this adaptation is also extremely popular with schools and community theatres for its clarity, comedy, and large number of great acting roles - especially for women.

“Worth ovations - a sell-out hit.” Calgary Sun

“Remarkable . . . a fine and faithful adaptation Austen’s novel captures the tone and compresses the complexity of the story.” - Burnaby Now

“Delightful...breathes life into the novel, transforming Austen’s wry, verbal humour into lightness and gaiety, while not overlooking the novel’s darker themes.” - Vancouver Courier

“Vivid, eloquent, and very funny.” - Ottawa Citizen

“Simple, crisp elegance - downright brilliantly conceived.” - Brokenleg Review

“Funny, fierce, and romantic. Undeniably engaging.” - Calgary Herald

"Blazingly fast and funny . . . (Austen) purists may breathe easy. Perfectly accessible to romance fans, and those who can tolerate a little romance with their comedy." - Apt613.ca

• Language: English
• Publisher: Janet Munsil
• Release date: Nov 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370127115

Janet Munsil

Born in Seattle, raised in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, and a graduate of the University of Victoria's Theatre Program, Janet Munsil studied design and directing. In 1992, she joined the staff of Intrepid Theatre, producers of the Victoria Fringe Festival, Uno Fest, Winterlab, OUTstages and other presenting and development programs. She was the longest-serving Canadian Fringe Producer and in 2016 celebrated her 25th year as an Artistic Director and Festival Producer - and her 50th Festival as a producer. Her work as a playwright has been seen internationally, including Canada's National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Theatre Calgary, Alberta Theatre Projects, The Tarragon (Toronto), Soho Theatre (London), Arts Club Theatre Stanley Playhouse (Vancouver), Prague Fringe, Belltable Arts Centre (Ireland), the West Yorkshire Playhouse (Leeds), Citizen's (Glasgow) and others. She has been in residence at the Banff Centre Playwrights Colony several times (including 2015), and in 2012 was part of the Stratford Festival Playwrights Retreat. Other plays include The Ugly Duchess, Emphysema (a love story), Be Still, Influence, Circus Fire, and I Have Seen Beautiful Jim Key - a new play for young audiences. Her play That Elusive Spark was a Finalist for the 2014 Governor General’s Award for Literature. Her adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, commissioned and first produced by Theatre Calgary and the NAC (Ottawa), will be included in The Arts Club’s 2015/16 season at the Stanley Theatre in Vancouver. She is currently working on a new play, Act of Faith, for Vancouver’s Realwheels Theatre, and a commission for The Powerhouse Theatre. Munsil's books and plays have been published by Oberon Press, Oxford University Press, Annick Press, Signature Editions, and Playwrights Canada Press. She is in the process of releasing her body of professionally-produced but unpublished work under her own imprint, Missing Page Co. She is currently an Artist in Residence in the University of Victoria's Centre for Studies in Religion and Society for 2016/17, and will be Writer in Residence at the Caetani Cultural Centre in Vernon BC for October 2016. Munsil began her professional writing career at the age of 16, when Annick Press published her book Dinner at Auntie Rose's. She published three books for children, one of which has been translated into several languages. She started playwrighting in 1992, and is now the author of eleven full-length plays and numerous short works for theatre, many of which have been seen internationally. Recent accomplishments include deer-proofing her garden, directing a cross-gender production of Twelfth Night, becoming a Canadian citizen, learning to drive a car, accepting the Mayor's Medal Award for the Arts in her home of Victoria BC, and taking the train across Canada from Halifax to Vancouver.

Book preview

for Miss Megan Newton

Copyright © 2012 Janet Munsil

Revised 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, for any reason, by any means, without permission of the publisher.

This adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice by Janet Munsil is published by

Missing Page Company

1245 Hewlett Place

Victoria BC V8S 4P6 Canada

Printed and Bound in Canada

Canadian Cataloguing Publication Data

Munsil, Janet

Pride and Prejudice

A play

ISBN: 978-0-9917342-0-7

All rights whatsoever in this play are strictly reserved. No professional or non-professional performance of the play may be given without obtaining, prior to commencement of rehearsal, written permission, and paying the requisite fee or royalty. No alteration may be made in the title or the text of the play without the author’s prior written consent.

Enquiries regarding production rights must be directed to: [e-mail] phone [phone]

This adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

by Janet Munsil was co-commissioned by

Theatre Calgary and Canada’s National Arts Centre

(Ottawa) and presented by both theatres in 2012.

The Original Cast was as follows:

PIERRE BRAULT Mr. Collins

ELLEN CLOSE Charlotte Lucas

TYRELL CREWS Mr. Darcy

ANNA CUMMER Caroline Bingley

LEDA DAVIES Kitty Bennet, Lady Anne De Bourgh

MICHAEL SPENCER-DAVIS Uncle Gardiner

BRENDAN Charles Bingley

MCMURTRY-HOWLETT LAURA HUCKLE Lydia Bennet

PHILIPPA LESLIE Mary Bennet

JULIA GUY Georgiana Darcy

ALLAN MORGAN Mr. Bennet

ALIX SIDERIS Aunt Gardiner

KARL H. SINE Mr. (George) Wickham

GEMMA JAMES-SMITH Jane Bennet

ELIZABETH STEPKOWSKI Mrs. Bennet

TARHAN SHANNON TAYLOR Elizabeth Bennet

TERRY TWEED Lady Catherine, Mrs Reynolds

The Creative Team

DENNIS GARNHUM Director

AARON COATES Assistant Director

PATRICK CLARK Set & Costume Design

JOCK MUNRO Lighting Design

SHARI WATTLING Production Dramaturge

AILSA BIRNIE Stage Manager

ERIN FINN Assistant Stage Manager

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Nancy Webster, Paul Terry, Dennis Garnhum, Shari Wattling, Aaron Coates, all of the actors involved in the workshop, and the staff of Intrepid Theatre.

A Note on the Staging of this Play

Although the script is divided into scenes for clarity, the action of the play should be as continuous as possible, with one scene moving smoothly into the next without long scenic changes.

Furnishings and on-stage decor have been kept to a minimum. A playing area free of walls and doors is most suitable.

Running Time: Two hours and ten minutes.

Characters

Jane Bennet

Lizzie Bennet

Mary Bennet

Kitty Bennet

Lydia Bennet

Mr Bennet

Mrs Bennet

Mr Gardiner

Mrs Gardiner

Charles Bingley

Caroline Bingley

Charlotte Lucas

Fitzwilliam Darcy

Mr Collins

George Wickham

Lady Catherine de Bourgh

Lady Anne de Bourgh

Mrs Reynolds

Georgiana Darcy

Doubling is optional. Options include:

Mary/Georgiana, Lady Catherine/Mrs Reynolds, Kitty/Lady Anne, Mr Collins/Mrs Reynolds.

Act One

Scene 1 – Longbourn Garden

Lizzie stands at an easel. She gazes at the sky, then paints a broad swathe of blue. She roughs in a lawn and a few trees. The Bennet country estate of Longbourn.

Mr Bennet, on a stroll with a book, stops behind her to admire her work.

Mary, Kitty, Lydia and Jane enter practicing a reel. A serene, idyllic scene of gentrified country life until . . .

Kitty: Wrong way!

Jane: Kitty.

Lydia: You ruined it, Mary! Start over!

Kitty: Lydia and I will look very foolish at the assembly if we can’t do the dances!

Lydia: And it will be your fault, Mary!

Lizzie: It will be your own fault, for flirting with the dancing-master and not paying attention to your lesson.

Mary: I have no intention of dancing at the assembly. I would much rather spend my time with a book.

Mary marches away and takes out a book.

Kitty: Father! Make Mary dance with us.

Lydia: Now Kitty, you be the man.

Kitty: No, you be the man. You’re tallest.

Mrs Bennet enters.

Mrs Bennet: Mr Bennet! Mr Bennet! Oh Mr Bennet! Such news!

Mr Bennet: What is it, my love?

Mrs Bennet: The neighbouring estate of Netherfield has been let at last! To a single young man, of good fortune . . . four, or five thousand a year!

Mr Bennet: And what is that to me?

Mrs Bennet: You must know that I plan to marry one of the girls to him.

Mr Bennet: For it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a of good fortune must be in want of a wife.

Lydia: What is his name, mama?

Kitty: Yes, his name! His name!

Mrs Bennet: Mr Bingley.

Kitty: Kitty Bingley.

Lydia: Lydia Bingley!

Lizzie: What nonsense – you haven’t even seen him!

Mrs Bennet: You must go and visit him at once, Mr Bennet, to stake a claim for one of our daughters! The Lucases will be desperate to marry their Charlotte to him, though I’m sure he could not admire such a very plain girl –

Lizzie: Mama!

Mrs Bennet: I know she is your particular friend, Lizzie, but you must own that she is very plain. Her own mother agrees with me. Do go at once and visit him, Mr Bennet.

Mr Bennet: I will do no such thing.

Mrs Bennet: But why?

Mr Bennet: I have already met Mr Bingley.

Mrs Bennet: Where did you meet him?

Mr Bennet: At the Lucases. He dined there yesterday.

Mrs Bennet: I knew it! I knew it! It is already too late.

Kitty: What was he like papa?

Mr Bennet: Very agreeable.

Lydia: But what did he look like, papa?

Mr Bennet: He wears a blue coat, and rides a black horse.

Lydia: That is no description at all!

Kitty: I, for one, like a man in a blue coat.

Lydia: I, for one, prefer a red coat.

Kitty: Aunt and Uncle are here!

The Gardiners enter and are greeted by the family.

Mrs Bennet: We feared you might not arrive in time for the ball, brother.

Mr Gardiner: And miss an opportunity to dance with our five beautiful nieces at the Meryton Assembly? Preposterous.

Mrs Bennet: All night long I was in a nervous fever about the silk roses for the girls’ dancing slippers.

Mrs Gardiner: Oh, poor dear! Well, you may sleep soundly tonight, I have them right here. And a few other little things . . .

Kitty & Lydia: Prezzies!

Mrs Gardiner doles out elegant accessories for the ball, which the girls try on. Jane and Lizzie join them.

Mrs Gardiner: Jane, Eliza! How well you both look. Don’t you think so, dear?

Mr Gardiner: Ready to break some hearts at the ball, I