Oh I love it! I just love it. Pride and Prejudice at The Chemainus Theatre is simply brilliant. Wait, let me back up for a moment.

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Oh I love it! I just love it. Pride and Prejudice at The Chemainus Theatre is simply brilliant.

Wait, let me back up for a moment.

I should probably explain something about myself to you.

When I was in the hospital giving birth to our first child, my husband wanted to help ease the pain of labour.

He creatively thought that bringing along my favourite movie would help “take my mind off things” and “create a peaceful, happy memory of the birth.” So my dear husband brought along a copy of Pride and Prejudice into the delivery room for us to watch together.

As we sat there watching, he continually paused the flick as nurses came in and out of my room checking on my progress. At one point he turned to me and said,

“You know… we’ll never get through this movie if we keep getting interrupted by these nurses.”

I stared at him blankly with yet another contraction coming on.

Yep, that’s my man! Of course he had a twinkle in his eye as he held my hand. To this day, when I hear the music from the movie, I remember bringing our daughter into the world. So I suppose his plan worked!

All these years later, I still love the movie. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw that Pride and Prejudice, my beloved Jane Austen book and movie, was coming to The Chemainus Theatre.

This stage adaptation by Janet Munsil is full of all the beauty and wit that Jane Austen so eloquently wrote many years ago. The story itself is timeless. Boy and girl meet. Boy is unimpressed by girl. Girl is offended by boy’s pride. But eventually, after a series of events (some comedic and some tragic), boy and girl fall in love.

Jane Bennet, the ever gentle and beautiful. Mr. Bingley, forever generous and amiable. And of course Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, two formidable beings free to offer their opinions with conceit and pride all the while retaining all manners and civility society deems necessary. Yes, these complex characters make for a wonderful show.

The acting here is simply superb.

Every part was played flawlessly, though my own personal favourite were the always emotional and irrational Mrs. Bennet and the stupendously stupid Kitty and Lydia Bennet. But really, everyone played their rolls with perfection.

As the scenes changed throughout the show, the actors themselves played music both on and off stage.  In fact, as audience members, we were even welcomed to listen in before curtain call as the characters entertained one another in their living room.

One note: I always eagerly anticipate the new set designs for every production. I am continually amazed how, with such an intimate theatre space, a new world is creatively revealed every time. However, the Pride and Prejudice set struck me as overly plain and left me wanting. However, that didn’t stop me from thoroughly appreciating this play.

Our night was made complete with a dinner at The Playbill Dining Room. The Friday night menu forces us to practice self control as everything smells and tastes fantastic.

The Friday & Saturday night dinners include delectables like homemade soup, pâté, cobb salad and assorted cheeses board, coconut almond crusted cod, carved beef wellington, curried prawns, vegetarian cabbage casserole and for dessert tea or coffee with assorted desserts from decadent cakes & pies to caramel bailey’s bread pudding. Oh. My. Word! This food is stupendous. See the full menu. 

And what makes it even better is knowing we don’t have to rush because no one is waiting for our table and we get plenty of warning before the show starts. We just sit, eat, relax, and hum along to the live piano playing in the room.

The Playbill ideally starts any evening at The Chemainus Theatre. Book your tickets today for Pride & Prejudice!

MAKE A ROMANTIC THEATRE GETAWAY OUT OF IT.

A fully packed Chemainus Theatre Luxury package includes theatre tickets, a pre-show lunch or dinner in the Playbill Dining Room, breakfast and accommodations in the Best Western Plus Chemainus Inn all for only $122 per person.