“Gay Pride and No Prejudice is a fun re-telling of the classic Jane Austen novel, with a bit of a gay twist.”
Gay Pride and No Prejudice, as the title might suggest, is a re-telling of the classic Jane Austen novel, with a bit of a gay twist. That twist being that Darcy and Bingley both harbour romantic feelings for the other, and that Lizzie Bennett aspires to be a modern woman and one day enter politics. All very scandalous for the 1800s.
The premise is fun, and there has been a trend in recent years of updating and adapting classic stories in new and interesting ways. One issue that this production has though, is that until the second act, this is just the regular traditional story of Pride and Prejudice with a few lingering looks being the only real clue that something different is going on. There have already been a lot of adaptations of this story, and with the first act playing it very straight (pardon the pun), it fails to live up to any of these previous versions. Once the second act kicks off things do become more interesting and less predictable, but it then becomes plagued with characters changing opinions in seemingly an instant. On 2 occasions we have a character incandescent with rage and shouting for an entire scene, only for them to have entirely changed their mind and decided they are not angry at all only a few moments later. We are not shown any of this journey to them changing their minds, so it all seems inauthentic.
The highlight of the show is undoubtedly the parents of the Bennet sisters, played by Marianne March and David Kerby-Kendall. David is also the writer of this play, and he wrote and performed some very funny and witty lines, and along with Marianne March, brought a great deal of fun and energy to the show. Marianne in particular always had her energy and physical comedy up at a 10, which worked well with the heightened and melodramatic nature of the rest of the script.
Apart from the gay romance, the other significant change in this show is Lizzie Bennetts political aspirations. However this is very underserved and is almost entirely dropped by the end of the play. Moments of this show almost felt like they were trying to make the case to the audience that women should have rights and same-sex marriage should be allowed, which seemed almost patronising in tone. If the audience is already at a show with gay in the title, it’s unlikely that they will need convincing of these basic facts.
Despite my issues with the show, I cannot say it was not enjoyable. The pace of the story, save for some excessive lingering at the very end, moves at a steady pace. The actors all gave committed performances and there are some laugh out loud moments that help to make the show a positive experience.
In conclusion, I liked the idea of this show, but I felt that the execution was lacking.
Gay Pride and No Prejudice is playing at the Union Theatre until 2nd November.