Tonight, I was sitting in one of our folding chairs, waiting for the Chapterhouse Theatre Company’s production of Sense & Sensibility to begin, when I turned to Mirinda and suggested it was odd that we’d never seen anyone we knew at these outdoors events. Then Sue walked by. How very odd, I said. We are visiting her next Thursday. It was almost as if I’d called her into existence with my offhand remark.
21 days to go
Chapterhouse has been touring outdoor performances around the UK (as well as Europe and China) for more than 20 years. Originally created to tour Shakespeare, the company has since branched out to include other authors. While the original was written by Jane Austen, this version was adapted Laura Turner.
According to Mirinda, the undisputed Jane authority, there was little of Jane’s dialogue in the play we saw tonight. Though a mere novice in Austen etymology I did question the use of such words as ‘fantastic’ in the text. I assume that Ms Turner wanted to contemporize the language. This, to me, seems weird because Jane’s language is generally so delicious.
The other thing that Ms Turner did was highlight Margaret, the young, precocious Dashwood sister. This would appear to be for the comedic relief. I have no problem with that. In fact, by the end of the play, I was wondering what happened to Margaret afterwards. I think someone should write a Regency novel called Whatever Happened to Margaret Dashwood? Did she go to sea and become a pirate? Did she marry a rapscallion and make light of society? We may never know.
The Chapterhouse website doesn’t include the cast, so I can’t name her, but I thought the actor playing Margaret was excellent. She had a lot of energy and was an appealing presence. She was also good at playing Lucy Steele.
Open air performances are always going to be a challenge to an actor’s voice skills but, I have to say that the actor playing Sir John and Edward Ferris had excellent projection. Every word was crystal clear. He also worked towards the audience, while the rest of the cast directed their dialogue to the side a lot. It was a delight seeing proper acting skills on show.
Mind you, of everyone on stage, I think I liked the actor playing Mrs Palmer best. She was also a first class bitch as Fanny Dashwood. A very enjoyable performance.
While I enjoyed sitting on the South Lawn at Chawton House along with Mirinda and a picnic I’d created earlier, I was a bit disappointed by Elinor and her grim face. She could smile, I’m glad to say because she did in the end, but her grim face was dispiriting to the last. I’m surprised Edward wanted to have anything to do with such a grim face.
Chapterhouse is touring all over the UK this summer, and I’d encourage people to go and watch, bring a picnic and enjoy a night at a historic house. They are also touring Pride & Prejudice to China in October. I wonder what they’ll make of Lizzie and Darcy?
