THEATER REVIEW: “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” @ Capital Repertory Theatre [Berkshire on Stage]

Review by Roseann Cane
Photograph by Richard Lovrich

If “Call me Ishmael” is the most famous opening sentence of an English-language novel, surely “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” is a very close second. The first, of course, opens Melville’s Moby-Dick. The second is from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and, unlike Melville’s work, is driven by delicious irony, a subtle suggestion to the reader on how to perceive the author’s point of view.

Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon imagines the lives of the Pride and Prejudice characters two years after the novel’s end. In Capital Repertory Theatre’s current production of the play is a delectable confection served at a time when such a warm-hearted diversion is especially welcome.

Director Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill has infused the production with warmth and sly wit. She has also cast it impeccably, with actors who charmingly manage to marry the wit and kindness at the heart of the play.

Click to read the rest at Berkshire on Stage.