By: Lindsey Kelstrom
I took a delightful step back in time to the Regency Period of author Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility at the Lyric Theatre Saturday night and was happily contented with what I saw from both the characters and the beautiful sets, backdrops, and costumes.
Sense and Sensibility is a well-beloved novel written by Regency author Jane Austen that has been adapted for the stage by Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan. It tells the story of sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood and their mother, Mrs. Dashwood who are forced into a belittled life situation and near poverty upon the death of their father and husband. They are welcomed into a cottage owned by robust and jovial extended family members, who add comedic relief through their ridiculous, yet endearing personality traits. Along the way, Elinor and Marianne both fall in love, but end up not truly knowing everything about the men they have given their hearts to. Elinor, a cool-headed, sensible young woman has fallen for Edward Ferrars, but later finds out he has been secretly engaged for years to another. Marianne, her passionate and emotional sister, has fallen for John Willoughby, a smooth-talking and dashing, yet reckless man who has been in trouble with other women, which later causes problems that ultimately keep the couple apart as his true character is revealed. As their situations unfold throughout the story, the sisters try to cope with a mixture of emotions, disappointments, and finally-as in all Jane Austen novels– a romantic happily ever, with help from true friends and family as each character’s true nature unfolds throughout the story.
Kelly Rogers plays a charming and sensible Elinor Dashwood. I kept associating her features and mannerisms with Gwyneth Paltrow when she played an Austen character herself in the movie Emma. Her love interest in the story, Edward Ferrars (Mitch Shira), portrays a calm yet, at times, uncertain counterpart who successfully complimented Rogers’ interpretation of Elinor’s mild temperament. Other stand-out performances include Sir John Middleton (Toby Tropper) and Mrs. Jennings (Mitzi Mecham) as the comedic and robust cousins who take the Dashwood women under their wing. Each time they are on the stage, the energy lifts and the audience laughs.
While on the subject of standout performances, there are several actors who double up on playing different characters, and they do a fantastic job! Shira plays brothers who never happen to be onstage together, and the nuances and nervous ticks he uses from one brother to the other create a believable and entertaining difference between the two characters. Tamari Dunbar, who plays both the mother, Mrs. Dashwood, and Mrs. Ferrars carries herself beautifully in two very different mothering styles and even changes certain elements of her British accent to compliment each character to the fullest. I only wish she would wear different dresses for different characters to complete the transformation. Matt Mueller as the sister’s half-brother, John Dashwood, and also as Mr. Palmer wears glasses, obsesses with a newspaper and also where his chair is placed in each scene to set himself apart as a different character and it comes off brilliantly and brings lots of laughs. Finally, Madison Kisst as Fanny Dashwood and Charlotte Palmer has you hating the one character and laughing with the other’s ridiculous but sweet quirks.
The performances from the mentioned characters truly make this show all that is Jane Austen coupled with the seamless scene movement and blocking choreographed by director J.R Sullivan and Movement Coach Stephanie R. White, as well as the beautiful set design with backdrops and rotating projections by Set Designer Dennis Hassan and Projection Designer Steven Piechocki and transport the audience to a time of English wealth and Regent proposals of a proper and poised time of British society. Costumes are elegantly designed by Nancy Hills and sound effects and overall sound quality by Sound Designer Bryan Z. Richards add elements to further transport the audience to this time period.
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As an avid lover of Austen’s novels and stage and cinema interpretations of her works, I give this production two thumbs up. And so, let us all to the theatre to witness this beautiful marriage of sense with the tenderness of our sensibilities at the Lyric Theatre this summer!
Lyric Repertory Company presents Sense and Sensibility
Lyric Repertory Theatre 28 W Center Street Logan, UT 84321
June 15- August 1, 2018 at 7:30 PM
Tickets: $21-$35
Contact: 435-797-8022
Lyric Repertory Facebook Page
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