Gunderson & Melcon Elevate Jane Austen’s “Modern” Woman!

by Lynne Stevens

Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon have imagined the lives of Jane Austen’s delightfully comic Bennet family visiting Pemberley at Christmas. It’s two years after Elizabeth (Kausar Mohammed) and Darcy (Adam Griffith) were married. The eccentric Bennet family descends on the majestic manor—with the women plotting romance and revolution.

Elissa Beth Stebbins plays Mary, the quiet, bookish, unattached sister, who insists she does not need a man to make her life complete. But we sense that she has not met the right one. Mary refuses to suffer fools gladly. She is ready with a withering retort for her family’s traditional opinions. She hates the notion that being single is “pitiful.” She is becoming the modern woman.

“Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” treats us to an old-fashioned feast for the eyes with a beautiful three-tiered set, featuring luxurious furnishings. Among them a piano, desk, chaise longue, fireplace, and elaborate parquet floors. On the revolutionary side, clever Lizzy charms her husband into accepting a new German custom of “a tree in the house.” Their first Christmas tree!

Director Jeffrey Lo has each family member strike a quick, silhouetted pose to introduce themselves, then quietly leave,. He suggests the struggle between fixed character traits and the chance to change.

Giddy with joy, Mr. Bingley (puckishly charming William Thomas Hodgson) and Jane Bennet (sweet Amanda Pulcini) are expecting. Like two turtle doves, they are continually patting and pecking each other.

Like Mary, their aristocratic house guest Arthur de Bourgh (wonderfully awkward David Toshiro Crane) also loves books and learning. Comical Arthur finds intellectual Mary intriguing. As Arthur is magnetically drawn to her, he remains amusingly puzzled.

Unknowingly, the magic is happening. Crane’s physical antics endear him to us. Cathleen Edwards’s coordinated costumes for Mary and Arthur signal their growing attachment. Stebbins’ Mary perfectly complements Crane’s Arthur.

Even though Stebbins represents the “modern” woman, she also embodies the 18th Century woman’s grievances. When skittish Arthur fails to stand up for himself, Mary points out that men have much more freedom than women. A woman is expected to look after her home, her parents, her children. But maybe she wants to explore the world too!

Younger sister Lydia (Sophie Oda), unhappy in her marriage, is still getting into trouble. When she gets involved, she complicates Mary and Arthur’s delicate “courtship,” leading to another funny family crisis. Even Lydia is still challenging old family conventions.

Just when things are coming together for Mary and Arthur, strident and wealthy Anne de Bourgh (wonderful Maggie Mason), insists that she is Arthur’s true fiancée. Playwrights Gunderson and Melcon refuse to let an arrogant woman destroy their love.

Andrea Bechert’s lovely staging includes snow falling outside the heavily draped windows. James Ard wittily transposes modern Christmas music to a Regency style. Miss Bennet” signals a new kind of Christmas tale for, by, and about women. Brava!

“Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, directed by Jeffrey Lo, at TheatreWorks, Palo Alto, California. Info: theatreworks.org – to December 29, 2024.

Cast:  Elissa Beth Stebbins, David Toshiro Crane, Sophie Oda, Kausar Mohammed, Adam Griffith, Amanda Pulcini, William Thomas Hodgson, and Maggie Mason.

Banner photo: Sisters Lizzy (Kausar Mohammed), Lydia (Sophie Oda), and Jane (Amanda Pulcini) listen as Mary (Elissa Beth Stebbins) confides her feelings. Photos: Kevin Berne