Poor poor Mary.
The forgotten sister of the very distinctive bunch of Pemberley girls, Mary possesses oodles of talent with both pen and piano. Yet affairs of the heart, of which her prospects are grim, have taken a back seat to more practical matters for far too long.
But there is one clunky dreamboat who makes Mary’s muted heart pump. In a routine world, it would be all so simple, right? However, with Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s sequel to Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” it is anything but.
The luscious levity with heartwarming holiday fare is what makes TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” such balm for those pushing away from the hard-hearted miserly Scrooge, often the face of Yuletide entertainment. Director Jeffrey Lo fills his blank canvas mightily with a spry, energetic cast that has their sly tongues firmly in cheeks, offering up delight peppered with posh poignancy. The very specific style of the piece is constructed and guided with masterful strokes, many moments offering up an effective recipe of period humor with modern sensibilities, tinged with effective anachronistic touches to boot.
Mary (Elissa Beth Stebbins) is wildly pensive, expressing her thoughts on paper and dazzling skills with 88 ivory keys. But it’s the love that surrounds her, affections that are not hers, that she yearns to possess. Right now, love is occupied by sisters Elizabeth Darcy (Kausar Mohammed) and her fella Fitzwilliam (Adam Griffith), in addition to the mighty pregnant Jane Bingley (Amanda Pulcini) and her beau Charles (William Thomas Hodgson). Yet love is a very loose term for Lydia Wickham (Sophie Oda), a coquettish tart locked into a marriage less real than Santa Claus.
The target of Mary’s yearning is chivalrous charmer Arthur De Bourgh (David Toshiro Crane), whose confidence in himself is wobbly at best. Maybe it’s because he has a bit of a secret he doesn’t fully know about, coming in the form of the fiery Anne (Maggie Mason) gumming up the works.
In the world of 1815 high society, a woman existing without the sole purpose of landing a man could be considered preposterous. The very precise and purposeful script from Gunderson and Melcon smartly never leans in that direction for its heroine. It’s everyone else who ain’t ready to get on Mary’s level. For them, it is just so weird that Mary is just, well, alone.
This is where Stebbins leads the proceedings with veteran sharpness. Just notice how often she simply observes when she’s not the focus of the action. It’s the ability to listen and process that builds context beautifully, reaching an organic level of truth when the focus returns to Mary’s conflicted and frustrated shoulders. Mary doesn’t need anyone, but certainly desires someone to share the world’s magic and mysteries with.
Each cast member takes their turn stealing a scene or two, offering varied and layered portrayals with taut textures inside Austen’s world. Crane’s ability to parry with Stebbins means both skill sets thrive, with Crane’s Arthur wholly playful as he tries to learn what this love thing is all about. Oda’s movement bounding around the stage throughout as she bats eyes, one who couldn’t be considered trustworthy, always lends itself to cheeky humor. The evil, entitled disruptor that is Anne is portrayed with a razor’s edge by Moore.
It is through the conscience of Mary that the action builds, with Lo’s ability to stack that level of unity giving the piece its legs. The cast also provides a terrific playground with Andrea Bechert’s detailed, Regency-inspired set, with the bit around the Christmas tree reaching a satisfying conclusion. The delightful period work from Cathleen Edwards (costumes), Roxie Johnson (wigs), James Ard (sound) and Spense Matubang (lights) all contribute to the playful nature of the story.
A grand payoff is only as good as its setup, and the play’s waning moments offer that up with something that is, might I say, emotional? As a bit dealing with the tree becomes its own through line, it serves as a great metaphor. Finding true love and decorating an empty tree both take work. But in the end, if done right, both can come out beautiful. That beauty might even arrive at the same time.
David John Chávez is chair of the American Theatre Critics Association and a two-time juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (‘22-‘23); @davidjchavez.bsky.social
‘MISS BENNET: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY’
By Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley
Through: Dec. 29
Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto
Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes with an intermission
Tickets: $49-$109; theatreworks.org