“It is a truth universally acknowledged,” Jane Austen wrote in the opening line of Pride and Prejudice, “that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” On July 31st, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company proved a truth just as universal: a woman in possession of a free evening, coupled with a double wine from the bar, must be in want of a ticket to this production.
The company’s regional premiere of The Complete Works of Jane Austen (Abridged), written by Jessica Bedford, Kathryn MacMillan, Charlotte Northeast, and Meghan Winch, opened this week under the direction of Jenny Lavery. In a swift 100 minutes (with no intermission) the show sets out to tell all six of Austen’s major novels–and showcases a few of her lesser-known works along the way. It plays out not by summarizing, but through the kind of loving, irreverence Austen herself might have appreciated.
Three Makes the Company
Jasimine Bouldin, Hannah Gregory, and Patrick Earl Phillips carry the entire production on their backs. They do so with the kind of stamina and comic precision that makes a three person show look effortless. Bouldin brings a spunky, modern edge, a perfect compliment against Gregory’s delightfully silly and passionate telling. Together they play through Elizabeth Bennets and Emma Woodhouses with the speed and persistence of Mrs. Bennet, trying to marry off her daughters.
And Phillips, the production’s sole male performer, tasked with embodying every Darcy, Wickham, Willoughby, Knightley and Wentworth in rotation, often within the same breath (under many, many different hats). As Austen wrote in Emma, “seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure,” and Phillips’s ever-shifting, never-quite-pin-downable parade of suitors makes a running joke of that uncertainty.
The Books, in 2x Speed
The trio races through Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion–six novels, compressed into a single sitting without ever losing their shape. A three-person show built on constant movement and character swaps is a genuinely difficult task to accomplish. The energy could dwindle, the pacing can suffer, and a lesser company could easily let the whole thing collapse. This cast never allows it. The stage stays electric from curtain to curtain call, and the respect for the material comes through as clearly as the comedy. These are stories told with a wink to superfans, but obvious enough for the passive Austen-ites.
A Very Good Girl Steals the Show
Every great Austen heroine deserves a grand entrance. Last night that honor belonged to Mae, a charming pug (on loan and up for adoption) from Ohio Pug Rescue, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Her cameo was a small, perfect surprise in an evening already overflowing with them.
Craft Behind the Curtain
If the onstage trio makes the chaos look easy, it’s likely because of a talented team working just as hard behind the scenes. The colorful and crisp lighting design comes from S. Elliott. Sound design from Zach Bennett, and stage management from Jenna Wray, assisted by Cassidy Stone. The women are dressed in Empire-waist dresses designed by Rainy Edwards, paying homage to the dresses that defined Austen’s own era. Gabby Trice’s scenic design provides a backdrop appropriate enough to fit all 6 stories, with properties design by Traci Listo.
The Verdict
Whether you come to this show a lifelong Janeite or someone whose only exposure to Austen is a rewatch of the film adaptations, you will find something to love here. The humor lands whether or not you can tell your Bennets from your Dashwoods, and devoted fans will catch every knowing wink tucked into the script. Austen once wrote that she wished to make her novels “as unlike a novel as may be,“ full of surprise and wit rather than convention. There’s something fitting about a production that takes the same liberties with her legacy–irreverent, mischievous, and never quite what you expect.
By the time the lights come up, you’ll likely be reaching for a well-worn paperback–or at least your streaming remote–the moment you get home.
The Complete Works of Jane Austen (Abridged) runs now through August 23rd at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Get your tickets here: https://cincyshakes.com/on-stage/jane-austen-abridged
