Theatre Department launches season with Pride and Prejudice

Mitchell Hartwell and Jillian Sennett star in the fall production of Pride and Prejudice. Sennett played Elizabeth Bennet and Hartwell played Mr. Darcy.

The award-winning McNicholas Theatre Department will launch its 2015-2016 season with the classic tale of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice adapted by Jon Jory. The play opens with a 7 p.m. show on Nov. 5 and runs through Nov. 8.

“Pride and Prejudice is the story of Elizabeth Bennet and her family and what happens when rich bachelors Bingley and Darcy move into town,” senior Mitchell Hartwell said. Hartwell, who plays Mr. Darcy, is one of twenty McNick students, ranging from freshmen to seniors, in the play’s cast.

Different from the past couple of contemporary plays McNick has performed, Pride and Prejudice is a classical play set not only in a different country but in different time period. “The hardest part I think, besides memorizing lines, was trying to learn British accents and having to be conscious of every aspect of the time period. You have to be careful of how you stand, how you sit, and even your hand movements,” Jillian Sennett said. Sennett plays the role of Elizabeth Bennet.

Director Ms. Teresa DeZarn said even though Pride and Prejudice is from a different time period, it is still relatable to teenagers today because the characters are teenagers and are facing problems with falling in love and how to not prejudge people. Sennett also commented saying that her character Elizabeth Bennet is a lot like a “modern woman” since she doesn’t always do what is expected of her and is trying to marry for love and not money. “The show has something for everybody,” Sennett said. “There’s funny characters, drama, and even romance.”

Show times for Pride and Prejudice are November 5 at 7 p.m., Nov. 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for students and seniors, $12 for adults, and all performances are in The Jeanne Spurlock Theatre, located via the Beechmont Avenue entrance on the McNicholas campus. The season includes the winter musical The Addams Family Jan. 28-31, 2016, and A Spingtime Murder Mystery April 22-24, 2016. For more information on McNicholas’ Theatre Department visit www.mcnhs.org or call the school at 513-231-3500.