The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley @ Stolen Shakespeare Guild
—Review by Jan Farrington
Talk about a built-in audience.
If the Dickens fans, as usual, are already caught up in multiple Christmas Carols, the next best thing for a theater would be something to attract the “Jane” crowd—always at the ready to come cheer for their favorite Austen characters.
And with The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley, the Stolen Shakespeare Guild has a holiday winner—another sequel to Austen’s Pride and Prejudice with a lively cast of characters. Some of them we know; others are new, but fit right in—and we’re glad to meet them.
Popular playwright Lauren Gunderson—with writing partner Margot Melcon—started something a few years ago with Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley—a “what happened after” Pride and Prejudice story. (Stolen Shakespeare had a hit with it in 2019.) The Wickhams is the second of a three-play cycle, and the third, Georgiana & Kitty, is having its “rolling premiere” around the country right now. I expect we’ll see it in a Christmas or two.
Impeccably directed by Jule Nelson-Duac, The Wickhams entertains and satisfies on multiple levels. It’s funny. It’s a solid upstairs/downstairs story full of hopes, dreams, troubles, and victories—both for the posh folk upstairs and the servants below. And it “grows” Austen’s original characters in ways that feel just right. (Not once, did I think “Oh, Lizzie would never do that!” She would.)
The entire action takes place in the kitchen of Pemberley, in a detailed set with an anchoring wooden worktable and bunches of herbs drying on the walls. (Kudos to the set and scenic design team—SSG founders Jason and Lauren Morgan—and master carpenter Kyle Sapienza.) Even the props (designed by Jennifer Stewart) need “props”: set casually on the mantel, there’s an antique bellows for blowing on the fire. And as always, Lauren Morgan’s period-perfect costumes made me utter a quiet “wow.”
This is an especially strong cast, and I hope to see more of them as SSG’s season marches on. Laura Jones makes a brusque but warm-hearted Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper. (She knows everything about Pemberley, and isn’t afraid to use it.) Cory Carter makes an elegant, funny, and beautiful Elizabeth, with handsome, dignified Leon Watson II as her Mister Darcy. (Darcy, mostly an upright fellow, always had a quirky streak—and Gunderson/Melcon make a bit of fun from it.)
Elizabeth’s younger sister Lydia, ditzy but somehow endearing, is played engagingly by Cheyenne Haynes, and her bad-boy husband Wickham (oodles of distracting charm from Drew Denton) has her completely fooled. Wickham isn’t supposed to be there (Darcy has forbidden him to visit the house), but he has reasons (in pounds and pence) to come looking for his wife at Christmas-time. Hiding Wickham from the Darcys keeps the kitchen lively.
Two new characters are engaging add-ons to the story. Good-hearted and inventive footman Brian (Parker Pereira) is delighted to see the new housemaid arriving. She’s Cassie (Maggie Ewing), a childhood friend (and crush?) from the nearby village who is making her way alone in the world. She’s a smart, independent young woman who makes friends with Lydia and isn’t sure she wants Brian to fall in love with her. (She has plans.)
How does it all work out? There’s a satisfying mix of outcomes we hope for—and a few happy surprises. All I can say is: keep your eye on those orangey “biscuits” everyone’s snatching off the kitchen table. They’re yummy…and they could be a clue.
WHEN: Through December 18
WHERE: Fort Worth Community Arts Center, 1300 Gendy Street
