#but lady catherine was amazing she kind of did enough for them skghdg

[bennetsbonnet]

Although I absolutely had a great time at the production of Pride and Prejudice I saw last night, staged by a local theatre group (there truly is nothing like laughing along to some of Austen's dry wit in a room full of people) some of the changes made were quite... startling??? Which was understandably because the bulk of the action had to take place in the drawing room at Longbourn. But still, the more I think about it, the more I'm tickled (if a little frustrated).

It was all going well until Darcy's 'tolerable' comment was only reported on by Mrs Bennet the next day. Not seeing him say it really made such a difference. Then, I was surprised when the first time we actually saw Elizabeth and Darcy interact was at a substitute for the party at Lucas Lodge, except it happened at Longbourn, and they used the dialogue where Darcy asks if Elizabeth wishes to seize the moment by dancing a reel, which takes place later at Netherfield.

Honestly they toned down Darcy so much, he really didn't seem that bad and it was kind of difficult to understand why Elizabeth disliked him so much. The proposal wasn't nearly mean enough either, he insulted her connections once but again, it was difficult to believe she would be so against him.

The first act ended with the proposal and I was honestly having a great time. It featured so many lines that are usually left out of adaptations which I really appreciated, like Caroline teasing Darcy about his mother-in-law and how Elizabeth's eyes will be impossible to capture by any artist. But then, the second act began and it reminded me a lot of this image:

We didn't see or hear the letter from Darcy, just Elizabeth returning to Longbourn and discussing some of its contents with Jane. Then, the narrator explained that Elizabeth went to stay with her aunt and uncle in Derbyshire and encountered Mr Darcy there, who invited her to Pemberley and they found him much improved. But we didn't see it, or hear the good account of him from Mrs Reynolds? Honestly, if I didn't know the novel, I would've been quite confused about how Darcy changed or, indeed, if he even did and perhaps why he even needed to.

Buuuuut I won't be too harsh on anything else because other than those points it was genuinely enjoyable! Mr Collins, Mrs Bennet, Caroline and Mary were particular standouts, and Elizabeth was excellent!

And the limits of the production also amused me in some ways, as they had to come up with creative ways of getting characters alone for conversations. Some highlights included:

Wickham and Elizabeth having their conversation about Darcy at Mrs Phillips's alone in another room while everyone else was playing cards because Elizabeth was?? tired??

Mr Collins dragging Lady Catherine and Darcy off (after they had accepted his invitation to dine at Hunsford Parsonage... pffft) to show them a watercolour he had purchased. Which Lady Catherine abused as ugly and told him off for not consulting her before he purchased it.

Mr Bennet complaining servants had invaded his library with brushes to clean it, so could he speak to Lizzy about Lydia going to Brighton in private.

Overall, it was definitely far more of a comedy than anything else. Which I honestly didn't mind, it worked very well with the audience. Although there was disappointingly little pride or, indeed, prejudice, it was a very fun evening out and it's a novel absolutely intended to be heard aloud!