Jr High Blog

In 1813, Jane Austen published her classic regency-era romantic novel, Pride and Prejudice. In it she explored themes of love, marriage, class, wealth, superficial versus true goodness, and the assumptions we make of each other. Many movies, miniseries, and plays have followed. The reason I chose to produce this recent adaptation by Kate Hamill was due in part to the way Kate mixes in a modern sensibility, plenty of comedy, and the concept of games. Is love a game? How can one play to win? What is a win in love?  

The answers were different in Jane Austen’s time. A good marriage meant that a young woman would be provided for and have security. Today, in our love-obsessed culture, romantic love can easily become an idol. Yet in God’s perfect design, it is a gift. Man and woman together reflect God’s image and partner together to steward His creation and make it flourish (Genesis 1:26-28). They are equal yet distinct beings who need each other. In this play, opposites that at first repel and then later attract are what make up the central couple. Two very different people can fit together like perfectly complementary puzzle pieces and become one. I think this play celebrates that union.

I love how theatre provides us with an opportunity to explore human nature. As the pinnacle of God’s creation, though sinful and yet deeply loved, we are complex and wonderful beings! I hope you enjoy this story of the Bennet family and their efforts to get their four extraordinary daughters married off well. It was another time and another place that Jane Austen wrote about, but the bells she rang then still echo today with truth and clarity about the crazy ways we humans sometimes behave when engaged in “the game of love.”