Lovers of the love story can rejoice.
The timeless story, Pride and Prejudice, comes to Forum 111, at 8 p.m. tonight and 8 p.m. Saturday thanks to Penn State’s No Refund Theatre.
Amanda Lippert (senior-communication sciences and disorders) is the director of the 16-cast-member play and said it is her first time directing for NRT.
Pride and Prejudice is the first fall show of the semester for the group, and Lippert said it is an authentic version of Jane Austen’s original 1813 novel.
This particular adaptation is written by Jane Kendall and is a period piece complete with British accents, Lippert said.
The play, which is free to the public and students, is the story of Mrs. Bennett marrying off her five daughters.
“I think [this adaptation] is the truest to the original novel,” Lippert said.
Lippert stresses that there is no dancing, like in some adaptations. The lines of the play are mostly direct quotes from the book, she said.
Preparation for the show began at the start of the semester, and the cast has rehearsed four to five days a week preparing for the show
Lippert, who also sewed costumes for the play for the past four months, said everything in the play is really accurate.
“It’s like we threw open the book and put it up there on the stage,” Lippert said. “It’s not as corny a love story as most people think.”
She said there is some humor and elements of romantic comedy, but overall, it is a fun adaptation.
Dustin Lee Yenser, Class of 2007, plays the lead male, Mr. Darcy.
Though Pride and Prejudice is a very famous work of literature, Yenser said he never had read the book prior to being in the play.
His character, Mr. Darcy is extremely “wealthy and aristocratic,” Yenser said. His encounter with a girl beneath his class –– Elizabeth–– is the basis for a conflicted relationship, Yenser said.
Katherine Fisher (sophomore-theater) plays the titular Elizabeth Bennett.
She said Elizabeth is born in the wrong era because she is independent and makes decisions that are for her family. More than anything, she said she values loyalty.
“Mr. Darcy goes against everything she believes in,” Fisher said.
Fisher said the story is one for family because every character grows up a little bit.
In order to get into the character of Elizabeth, Fisher said she walks around while listening to the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack, picturing the world during this time from her character’s perspective.
“I think about what I would want from the people around me [as Elizabeth],” Fisher said.
Yenser said he and Mr. Darcy actually have some things in common, primarily that he can relate to Darcy’s quiet, reserved side.
He also got into character for this role by listening to music–– particularly music from the late 1960s, like The Rolling Stones , he said.
He called The Rolling Stones’ “vindictive view of romance” comparable to Pride and Prejudice.
