Austen’s Pride is a delightful two-in-one story of both Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen’s experience of writing it.
Writing is hard. Right, Jane?
My current “day job” is dressing the actresses playing Jane Austen (Laura Michelle Kelly) and Elizabeth Bennet (Olivia Hernandez), and I’m enjoying how the creators of this lovely musical have interwoven the stories of these two characters.
After being rejected by her one true love due to their class differences, Jane struggles to write about what she “does not know,” which is true love. Through the process of developing her best-known and much-loved novel, she becomes a part of the scenes, acting as both observer and confidante to Lizzy and Mr. Darcy.
I can totally relate. I’m feeling like a modern Jane Austen myself, as I scribble the outline of my next screenplay on a pad of paper between cues. If my characters start turning to me, as Lizzie does to Jane, and asking what they should do next, I might have to concede that I’ve been working a little too hard.
Austen’s Pride is in previews at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre through Oct. 17, then runs through Oct. 27, 2019.
Leave a Reply