During an early scene change at this Jane Austen-inspired production, I could swear the orchestral interlude was a 19th-century version of “The Fate of Ophelia” by Taylor Swift. The third of a trilogy of “Pride and Prejudice” sequels, “Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley,” by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, celebrates the tropes of Austen’s work (witty dialogue, social intrigue) but like that interlude, contains mysterious and surprising bonuses.
The trilogy actually began at a TheatreWorks writers’ retreat in 2014, so there’s a sense of it coming full circle, and it couldn’t be in better hands. (In 2024, TheatreWorks staged another play from the trilogy, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley.”) The ensemble work under Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli is impeccable, a seminar in comic timing and gestures. Watching the bon mots fly is half the fun.
The story opens in the home of the famous “Pride and Prejudice” Darcys, Elizabeth (née Bennet) and Fitzwilliam, who are hosting the Bennet sisters for Christmas, plus one additional Darcy, Fitzwilliam’s sister Georgiana, a talented pianist and composer.
The neglected Bennet sister, Kitty, has become besties with Georgiana, who tells her an exciting and treacherous secret. After meeting an admirer, Henry Grey, at a London recital, she and he have carried on a year-long correspondence and become very attached to one another. The terrifying part is that she’s been too afraid to mention this to her overprotective brother, and Henry has decided to visit her for Christmas.
Undoubtedly, one of the reasons for the continued popularity of Austen is the place of propriety and honor in her stories, which tends to magnify what today would seem no more than uncomfortable situations into full-blown disasters. Not to mention the British reluctance for expressing feelings. Thus, the second in-person meeting of Georgiana and Henry turns into a Hugh Grant festival of awkward silences and misdirection. Fortunately, they get onto their favorite subject, music, and can’t stop talking.
As for the brother-sister element, well that’s destined for full-blown conflict from the start, and it’s pretty juicy stuff. Especially when Darcy discovers some unflattering things about Henry’s family.
As Georgiana, Emily Ota does a masterful job of portraying a woman who is fearless behind a keyboard yet utterly unable to look her beau in the face. As Kitty, Kushi Beauchamp has a delicious way of blurting out exactly what she means and making a face that says, “Did I just say that?” She is soon matched up with Henry’s playful pal Thomas O’Brien (William Thomas Hodgson), who says exactly what he means and doesn’t care what anyone thinks.
Jenny Nguyen Nelson achieves a fine balance with Bennet sister Lydia, who is desperately lost after her own marital scandal and eager to participate in (and sometimes initiate) everyone else’s messes. The marriage between the famous Darcys, meanwhile, bears familiar markings of power couples everywhere, an alpha male paired with a woman who feigns accommodation while mysteriously always getting her way. Amanda Pulcini is delightful as Elizabeth, while Jordan Lane Shappell gives us a truly layered Darcy, desperate to protect his sister even at the cost of her happiness. In fact, this sibling dynamic is probably more crucial than the friendship of the title.
Fortunately for us, the play takes an unexpected turn. Not to give anything away, but the emphasis soon shifts to Georgiana’s musical talent, and the prejudice she faces as a female creative. At times, in fact, it seems that Georgiana succeeds a little too well, but in consideration of the female writer who inspired the trilogy (who did pretty well for herself), I’ll let that pass. Perhaps an even more radical idea is a 19th-century man, Henry, giving such whole-hearted support to an artistic woman. Nima Rakhshanifar plays the part with an affable sweetness.
The accoutrements are divine. Andrea Bechert’s set, an interior of crown mouldings, blue-on-blue wall inserts and elegant draperies, could be shipped off post-run and installed in some Atherton mansion. Cathleen Edwards’ Regency costumes are graceful and meticulous.
A fun game is to listen for the artful placements of the words “pride” and “prejudice” in the dialogue. And also to the post-applause exit music, a 19th-century orchestral arrangement that seems to resemble Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club.”
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents “Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley” through Dec. 28 at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. $34-$115. theatreworks.org, 877-662-8978.
