Standing Ovation Greets Pride and Prejudice
On Sunday, May 8, as the cast members all looked at Mrs. Bennet as she
tried to get Mr. Bennet to find husbands for Kitty and Mary and said "Oh!
Mama", the audience rose and gave a standing ovation. It was richly
deserved as the cast members (19 in number) gave an excellent performance.
Elizabeth Allard, playing Elizabeth, the head strong second oldest
daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, triumphed in her presentation. Her facial
expressions and body language matched the spunk and independence that
Elizabeth has shown from the novel and the presentations in the movies. Her
confrontation with Lady Catherine de Bourgh, played classily by Sandra
Schmeltzer, makes the Gunfight at the OK Corral look like a tea party in comparison.
Elizabeth does not play Elizabeth Bennet. She is Elizabeth Bennet.
Sarah Price, playing Elizabeth's sister, Jane, gave the right measure
of sweetness and sensitivity as she wins Charles Bingley's affection and
attention. Sarah, who constantly complains that she is cast as the bad girl
in other productions, clearly showed that she has the range to play the
good girl.
David Derry gave an excellent performance as Mr. Darcy, the aloof,
somewhat proud man, who cannot divorce himself from the intellectual allure of
Elizabeth. Darcy, who must come to grips with the snobbery of England at
the time of Napoleon, is the symbol of a new England which is ready to take
a giant step forward in the world order. David gives the conflict that
Darcy is encountering great credibility as he decides to wed the wealth of
the mind and beauty instead of the wealth of the purse and social standing.
Josh Rowe, as Charles Bingley, is the person who is the rebel in this
story as he does not care what social standing a person has. Discovering
that he has been misled by his own sister, Charles Bingley quickly runs to
the side of his true love, Jane. Josh shows the true sensitivity to the
part as he weds outside his social standing for love.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are portrayed wonderfully by Gary Liknes and Cindy
Bagocius. Gary's dry sense of humor allows him to zing Mr. Bennet's
somewhat ditzy wife. He gives multiple dimensions to the part as he shows that
he loves his wife no matter how obnoxious she can be. Cindy gives Mrs.
Bennet the right panache as the most loveable obnoxious woman to ever grace
literature and the stage.
Ray Olivera has a field day playing Mr. Collins, the stuffy and
totally ridiculous parson, who somehow gets his way through constant flattery.
He does not have the venom of others because Mr. Collins is quite genuine in
his flattery. Ray flatters to no end and makes Collins a truly memorable
character.
Two new actresses, Emily Liknes and Kim Vinson, grace the stage as
Lydia Bennet and Caroline Bingley. Emily, who is in her second production,
graduates from the child in On Golden Pond to Lydia, the silly and reckless
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. Kim plays Caroline as venomous with a
totally sweet exterior. Her performance as her character tells Jane of Charles
betrothal to Georgeanna Darcy shows what a cobra looks like as its waits
to kill its prey.
The remainder of the cast all gave tremendous performances. Anita
Artzner, the co-director, had to take the stage as Charlotte Lucas on Sunday
when David and Laurel Derry's daughter had to be rushed to the Emergency
Room. Laurel, who is Charlotte stayed with Rose, who is now fine, while David
gave the performance of his life while fielding telephone calls from
Laurel during breaks. Anita gave no indication that she had jumped into costume
only one hour before the curtain rose.
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, and adapted to the stage by Helen
Jerome, will be presented on May 13, 14, and 15 at 7:30 pm. The Samuel
French production is being performed at the United Methodist Church of Canal
Fulton, 363 West Cherry Street, Canal Fulton, Ohio. The cost of admission
is $8.00 for adults and $6.00 for seniors and children under the age of
twelve. For more information or reservations, call David Van Gaasbeek at
330-494-1022 or 330-854-4387.
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