‘Pride and Prejudice’ // Queensland Theatre

‘Pride & Prejudice’ was soul-stirring.

Queensland Theatre begins its 2025 season with an animated stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s ‘Pride & Prejudice’.

Wendy Mocke and Lewis Treston adapt Austen’s text for the stage with a consistently hilarious and moving script that reinforces how intelligent, funny and transcendent Austen’s storytelling remains. Bringing the work to the 21st century, co-directors Bridget Boyle and Daniel Evans lead the production with vivacious satire, physical humour, and sprawling production design.

The show begins with the melodramatics dialled up to eleven, before settling into a modest ebb and flow that allows audiences to immerse themselves in Austen’s sharp wit, intricate relationships and clever plot devices. Together, with stellar performances from an all-Queensland cast, Queensland Theatre has not only transported one of the most famous romance novels onto the stage but also offered new gleanings from the already impeccable storytelling that makes ‘Pride & Prejudice’ so popular to this day.

The search for, and avoidance of, a marriage match is where we begin, and Austen’s depictions of stubbornness and misjudgements permeate the plot. As one would predict, the audacious Elizabeth Bennet (Maddison Burridge) and aloof Mr. Darcy (Andrew Hearle) embody the brunt of these depictions and discussions. However, Mocke and Treston’s text reinforces how many of the secondary characters drive home the wider discussions of power and societal expectations.

Mocke and Treston’s pen emboldens Austen’s characters with equal parts humour and honesty. For the Bennet family, this begins with a familiar animated, chaotic energy as the five sisters diverge in their outlook towards upcoming balls, soldier parades and marriage prospects. However, before long, the once hopeful orchestration of meet-cutes, dances and charming courtship shifts into frank discussions of a woman’s worth and power both out in society and within her own home. Casting a wider net beyond the Bennets, depictions of their societal norms’ more complicated and unjust outcomes appear in characters like Charlotte Lucas (Amy Ingram), Mr. Wickham (Jeremiah Wray), and even a considerably nuanced depiction of the Bennets’ cousin Mr. Collins (Cameron Hurry). Each of these characters is performed with complexity and given their dedicated moments to highlight how others’ views of their age, family lineage, and societal status influence their outlook on love and happiness.

In addition to Elizabeth’s notorious intelligence and obstinance, each of the Bennet sisters brings shades of vibrance and astute discussion to Queensland Theatre’s rendition of Austen’s story. Perry Mooney demonstrates the pressures and frustrations that Jane experiences when confronted with her reputation for composure and beauty during her tumultuous courtship with the charmingly earnest Mr. Bingley (William Carseldine). Meanwhile, the younger sisters’ complex experiences transform simplistic representations of youthful exuberance into harrowing portrayals of a woman’s limited agency. Lydia (Courtney Cavallaro) discovers uncomfortable realities that follow her emboldened spirit, Kitty (Daphne Chen) grapples with her identity outside the shadow of her sisters, and perhaps the most consistent of all, Mary (Chenoa Deemal) grounds the family with a no-nonsense perspective that surpasses their trivialising father.

A standout feature of this stage adaptation is the character doubling, with actors swapping between characters of similar or opposing societal roles. Gael Ballantyne’s switching between Mrs Bennet and Lady Catherine highlights how two different matriarchal figures with opposite statuses value marriage as not only a life achievement but also a crucial investment. Meanwhile, Amy Ingram’s doubling as Charlotte and Ms. Bingley allows for a depiction of two women from opposing backgrounds responding to their experiences of social invisibility in two very different ways.

As the storytelling unfolds into a measured dissection of social pressures and stereotypes, Boyle and Evans shift the production’s energy from playful to poignant. With sarcasm, slapstick and tongue-in-cheek puns throughout the first act, Austen’s humour is dialled up to eleven with high energy and copious cackle-worthy moments. Classic romcom tropes like eavesdropping and matchmaking fuel a lot of the tension between the characters, but also heighten the comedy for the audience. Nerida Matthaei’s choreography, Guy Webster’s sound design, and Christina Smith’s set and costume design emulate the production’s fusion of regency and 21st-century influences. Matthaei’s choreography layers grind and body rolls purposefully into selective cotillions and quadrilles throughout the first act, but Webster’s use of orchestral pop songs lacks thematic depth, feels lazy, and screams Bridgerton, rather than Austen, particularly when paired with Smith’s colourful costume design. The intricacies and diversity of Smith’s set design is another story, particularly throughout the second act. Giant wooden fixtures framed by wild greenery highlight the significance of Austen’s sprawling landscapes. From understated garden features to multi-level structures and awe-inspiring horizons, Smith’s romanticisation of nature allows for a deeper immersion in the characters’ world from one beautiful season to the next.

For lovers of Austen’s original text, film and television adaptations, the iconic characters, thrilling plot points and quotable lines are all there to revel in. However, for those seeking something new, this production highlights Austen’s intricate discussion of societal expectations, and, more importantly, the dangers of neutrality and complacency. Queensland Theatre has begun its new era with boisterous energy and a fantastic rendition of one of the best romance stories ever written.

‘Pride and Prejudice’ performs until Saturday, 9 March 2025 at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. For more information, visit Queensland Theatre’s website.

Photography by Morgan Roberts