***
First several admissions: I have never read Pride and Prejudice nor watched any television or cinema adaptations. I have not read the P. D. James murder mystery nor watched the mini-series Death Comes to Pemberley. The third admission is I do not watch EastEnders or Coronation Street.
However, there cannot be a soul who does not at least vaguely know the tale of Elizabeth Bennet and Colin Firth (I mean Fitzwilliam Darcy) and the dastardly George Wickam.
These matter because I approached this stage adaptation of Death Comes to Pemberley purely as a stand-alone piece of theatre. That also applied to the acting as I have no idea who the soap characters are that apparently cast members play. I have watched Endeavour so I do know that Sean Rigby played a surly detective in that show.
The conceit is that the genteel world of Jane Austen’s Regency England is brought forward to six years after the events of Pride and Prejudice. I know the P. D. James novel has sold well and in it two popular genres are brought together: romance and whodunnit. Here brought to the stage by Duncan Abel and Rachel Wagstaff, this touring production, directed by Jonathan O’Boyle, is something of a curate’s egg.
The story begins with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s living at Pemberley planning the annual ball. Elizabeth is quickly established as a modern woman who does not like being told what to do or conforming to social expectations. At times one rather wishes she did.
Jamie-Rose Duke and Sam Woodhams
After introducing some of the main character the stormy (what else could it be?) evening is disrupted by gunshots and the news of a murder in the woods.
Now this is where lack of knowledge of Pride and Prejudice matters as the chap found kneeling over the corpse is George Wickham. For the audience members in the know his is where they would go “ooooo” but for the rest of us we are reliant on the slow drip of revelations of why he has such a bad reputation and is not welcome at Pemberley. Then in the closing scenes another round of Wickham-related “oooos” are revealed by the characters for the show’s denouement.
As the investigation unfolds (where is Poirot when you need him?), dreadful secrets are unearthed and, with such an independent woman as Elizabeth, relationships tested. The result is a mixture of plots and sub-plots, secrets and then yet more revelations. We have quotes from Austen, flirtations with social hypocrisies, but it is all a little too sugar coated.
Along the way we have some shirt-taking off “ooo” by Wickam as Elizabeth ignores her husband’s instructions and bathes him. Are we supposed to think she still has the hots for him or is it all her pesky husband’s male inadequacies? It all ends happily of course.
Jamie-Rose Duke plays a suitable headstrong Elizabeth Darcy with her frankly long-suffering husband played by James Bye. Naughty old George Wickam is played by a ripped and rather shouty Sam Woodhams who also doubles as the rather odd character Will Bidwell. His wife Lydia (who also plays the unfortunate Louisa Bidwell) is performed by Mogali Masuka.
David Osmond plays a rather skittish Henry Alveston, who is also given a preposterous plot turn in that clunky finale scene. His piano playing scenes with the charmingly played Georgina Darcy from Celia Cruwys-Finnigan are nice and slushy. It is no surprise that the show’s musical director is also David Osmond.
Sean Rigby as Colonel Fitzwilliam does a fine job as a character who we dislike all the way throughout the show and has to be played as a bit of a lump. As this is a whodunnit any more information would give the game away.
Paul Jerricho also makes his mark as Mr Bidwell, and with sharing of roles the players flitted between identities.
The most delightful performance comes from Todd Boyce, above, as the pompous but very likable Sir Selwyn Hardcastle. More humour is provided by Sarah Berger’s Aunt Catherine, who epitomises the passing of th old order. The delivery of a lot of other dialogue is presumably supposed to convey the control and manners of the society but the effect can be wooden and, with the lower orders, caricature and yokel.
Hair and costumes by Natalie Titchener are a treat for the eye while the set design by Sean Kavanagh is very intelligent in enabling rapid scene changes with the help of lighting design by Mike Robertson.
This will appeal to lovers of romance stories from Regency society and the whodunnit genre.
New Theatre, Cardiff until August 2.
https://booking.trafalgartickets.com/en/new-theatre-cardiff/buyingflow/tickets/29187/57426/#tixsp