It’s showtime once again! During the last two weekends of April, Eastern Theatre Program students are performing Kate Hamill’s stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the classic novel by Jane Austen.
The play, according to critics, is a Pride and Prejudice for a new era: “Literature’s greatest tale of latent love has never felt so theatrical, or so full of life as it does in this effervescent adaptation.”
EWU Theatre has faced numerous challenges bringing the work to the stage. It was originally supposed to debut during winter quarter, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 omicron surge.
Students started working on the set, lighting, costumes and sound last November, and almost the entire set has been designed and constructed in house.
“We had students who had never used a sewing machine before, construct Regency era (think “Bridgerton”) inspired dresses. It’s truly amazing,” says Sara Goff, professor and program director of theater at EWU. The show also features original music composed by Elaina Dejong, an Eastern alumnae, who graduated last spring with a BA in theatre.
The 17-member cast and artistic team of 30 have been working tirelessly and passionately on this play, says Goff. “It’s not perfect, but it’s spectacularly beautiful, playful, and soul filling. The play encourages us to let go of ideas of perfection and our need to control, and to instead accept that a lot of life is ridiculous, and we won’t and can’t know what is right or what will happen but that shouldn’t stop us from taking a leap,” Goff says.
Goff says she “hopes the audience comes ready to laugh and ready to fall in love with one of their favorite stories all over again.”
Performances Dates:
(April 22-24)
- 7:30 p.m., Friday April 22
- 7:30 p.m., Saturday April 23
- 2 p.m., Sunday April 24
(April 28-30)
- 5 p.m., Thursday April 28
- 7:30 p.m., Friday April 29
- 7:30 p.m., Saturday April 30
Admission:
Tickets will be available starting April 15th at Showtix4u.com
Student Tickets: $2 with code EWUSTUDENT
General Admission: $10
