Review of Pride & Prejudice*(*Sort Of) at The Birmingham Rep

Let me confess. I love Pride & Prejudice – it is my favourite book. I love reading it, studying it, watching TV and film adaptations on repeat, so it was with curiosity and some trepidation that I went to see Pride & Prejudice*(*Sort Of) at The Birmingham Rep. But I have to say I absolutely love this reimagining of Pride & Prejudice too. This show is full of joy, laughter, drama, pop songs and fantastic acting by five talented female cast members, who play all the parts to perfection.

The important words in the title of the play are “Sort Of”. This is Jane Austen’s iconic love story live on stage; her characters are there too – fully fleshed out, but there’s also parties instead of balls where guests knock back Irn Bru and scoff Waggon Wheels; Jane is given a Viennetta from her mum to give to Miss Bingley as a gift; there’s a speaker and microphone for when the characters sing a modern pop song which sums up the story and their feelings (the most fitting perhaps when Lizzie sings Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain to Mr Darcy.) I have got to admit the first time I heard Elizabeth Bennet use the F-word I was shocked (like hearing your grandmother swear) but the next time it happened, I spluttered out laughter, and continued to do so every time.

This show reminded me that Pride & Prejudice is a romantic comedy and that it really is a funny book. Jane Austen’s caricaturing of the ridiculousness of Mr Collins, Lady Catherine De Bourgh and Mrs Bennet is translated onto the stage by the cast – they seem exaggerated characters when we see them act out the words –  but these are the words that Jane Austen makes them speak, sometimes mixed up with a modern day turn of phrase, but it works.

This play is definitely not for the kiddies but it really is for everyone else – whether you are a Jane Austen fan like me or if you are not, I am sure you will be joining in the well-deserved, standing ovation at the end.

Pride & Prejudice*(*Sort Of) runs at The Birmingham Rep from Mon 3 February until Saturday 8 February 2025. For more details and to book click here.

Review by Jo Messinger, Editor, Raring2go! Wolverhampton & South Staffordshire.

Images by Mihaela Bodlovic.