TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s production of Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s “Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley” begins with the delightfully old-fashioned trope of read-aloud correspondence. Shy, musically gifted Georgiana Darcy is exchanging excited letters with her best friend, Kitty Bennet. The two will soon be together to celebrate a Darcy/Bennet Christmas at Pemberley Estate.
For those who don’t remember all the characters from Jane Austen’s ever-popular “Pride and Prejudice,” it doesn’t matter: With the exchange of letters followed by a torrent of excitable young women swarming in, all in Regency-era finery, who’s who soon becomes clear.
As it happens, Gunderson and Melcon have completed a trilogy of “Christmas at Pemberley” plays, each one a sequel of sorts that focuses on various woman in the extended Bennet family; this one focuses on two: Georgiana (an endearing Emily Ota), whose life is micro-managed by her brother and guardian, the overbearing Mr. Darcy (Jordan Lane Shappell), who is, of course, married to Elizabeth Bennet (Amanda Pulcini). A secondary focus is on impulsive, plain-spoken Kitty (Kushi Beauchamp), who complains to the gentle, long-suffering Georgiana, “How can you stand to be so kind?”
It’s great fun to watch the interactions among Georgiana and the carefully differentiated sisters, under TheatreWorks artistic director Giovanna Sardelli’s sharp, sympathetic direction: not just Elizabeth, so deft at manipulating her churlish husband, but also bookish Mary (Maria Marquis); hopelessly self-centered Lydia (a particularly funny Jenny Nguyen Nelson); and Jane (Monique Hafen Adams).
But it’s especially gratifying to watch, over the course of two acts (spanning six years), as nervous-Nelly Georgiana (“I don’t trust myself to know what I feel,” she confesses early on) comes into her own: single (at least temporarily), outspoken, independent (well, for that era), even a leader in the field of women’s rights, her natural gifts finally recognized by all. That Gunderson and Melcon could so convincingly trace Georgiana’s growth as a woman and a musician is satisfying indeed.
Secrets abound, and so does romance, for both Georgiana and her supportive BFF Kitty. And Georgiana’s suitor and fellow music-lover, Henry (a charmingly bashful Nima Rakhshanifar), and his more outgoing buddy, Thomas (a funny, forthright William Thomas Hodgson), get just the right amount of attention in this women’s story.
As usual, the TheatreWorks design team is terrific. The Pemberley drawing room (in Act 2, it’s deftly transformed into Georgiana’s London drawing room), designed by Andrea Bechert in rich shades of green, simply dazzles, with its towering Christmas tree, elegant brocade furniture, sweeping draperies, chandelier, gorgeous fireplace screen and more.
And longtime local costume designer Cathleen Edwards’ period-perfect array of high-waisted gowns, boots, gloves and more are richly detailed.
It’s hard to imagine better feel-good theatrical holiday entertainment than this beautifully designed, directed and performed play.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s “Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley” continues through Dec. 28 at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Tickets are $34-$115 at theatreworks.org.