THEATRE Pride and Prejudice: An Adaptation in Words and Music ★★★★ Arts Centre Melbourne, until October 6 Every Janeite will rejoice at the prospect of seeing Nadine Garner in Pride and Prejudice . This is such a pleasant and accessible adaptation, it’ll appeal to lovers of Jane Austen’s pop-cultural descendants, too, especially Bridgerton watchers who haven’t traced their fandom back to its literary source. Nadine Garner as the narrator in Pride and Prejudice – An Adaptation in Words and Music.
Credit: Robert Catto We’re transported to Regency England through music. Madeleine Easton on violin and Daniel Le on piano first play an excerpt from Carl Davis’ score for the 1995 BBC adaptation, starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, before launching into virtuosic renditions of that composer’s classical influences. A Schubert sonatina, Beethoven’s first sonata for piano and violin, plus a side-serve of Regency dance music: if you don’t know what a quadrille sounds like, or a Scottish reel, you will after this.
True, some of Easton’s remarks on Austen’s importance sound fatuous and need polishing – incorporating the author’s own music collection, as they did at La Mama in By Jane’s Hand , might work. And arguably the purely musical section of the evening could be usefully split between a shorter intro and a brief interlude midway through the storytelling. But no one will care about that in the presence of Garner, whose lively staged narration, de.
