Director’s Notes
Sense and Sensibility has always been one of my favorite Jane Austen stories, but how do you bring it to the stage? Kate Hamill out of her own love of Jane Austen and frustration that women in the classics are often underrepresented brought a fresh adaptation to the stage. Her work, Sense and Sensibility at Bedlam in 2017, in which she originated the role of Marianne, won the Off-Broadway Alliance Award and she was named Wall Street Journal’s Playwright of the Year. Kate is one of the top five most-produced playwrights nationwide in the 2018-2019 season.
This play, while fun to direct also has its many challenges. The play has 20 scenes in act one and 25 scenes in act two. The play is like a revolving door of different scenes and locations that all need to be coordinated seamlessly. The play calls for everything to be moving on wheels and fast-paced. The characters are often moved around by societal norms and pressures and the circumstances around them that are beyond their control. The troupe of "gossips" represents these societal pressures and are always watching and moving the action.
The play’s major theme centers around the two Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. Elinor operates out of “sense” and rationality, while Marianne represents "sensibility" and bases her decisions on her emotions and impulses. The sisters must learn to balance both sense and sensibility to find their way in life and love! Please enjoy this wonderful adaptation of Sense and Sensibility!
Play Synopsis
When their father dies unexpectedly, the future seems bleak for the Dashwood sisters of Norland Park, as their older half-brother inherits the estate, and they are impoverished. Spineless brother John and his haughty, stingy wife, Fanny, establish themselves immediately after the funeral, leaving Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters as unwelcome guests in their own home. A silver lining emerges when Fanny’s kind, mild-mannered brother, Edward Ferrars, comes for a visit, and develops a friendship with sensible eldest sister, Elinor… is it merely esteem and admiration, or something more? Sensitive, emotional middle sister Marianne is sure that Edward is passionately in love, but cautious Elinor takes nothing for granted.
The Dashwoods move to their new home, a cottage on the estate of cousin Sir John Middleton, before the romantic potential can be realized. Once established in rural Devonshire, Marianne acquires two suitors of her own: Colonel Brandon, whose age and quiet melancholy disposition leave her cold, and John Willoughby, a handsome, dashing man, passionately fond of poetry, who rescues her from a rainy ramble gone awry. Eagerly giving her heart to Willoughby, Marianne does not bother to hide her preference, scorning the strictures of convention and the scoldings of her elder sister that she should modify her behavior or risk damaging her reputation. When Willoughby leaves without warning or promise, cutting off all contact, and is discovered to have married a wealthy heiress, Marianne’s heartbreak endangers her health and exposes her to the ridicule of society. And when Elinor discovers that Edward is secretly engaged to manipulative fortune-hunter Lucy Steele, her own hopes for happiness are dashed.
Supported by their love for each other, the Dashwood sisters must navigate the delicate rules of Regency society, and question their own fixed characters and beliefs, before they can arrive at not-quite-fairytale happy endings. The spectacular comedic characters, unforgettable relationships, and emotional truths of Jane Austen’s classic novel are brought to life in Kate Hamill’s brilliantly funny, fast-paced stage adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, which utilizes a chorus of lively Gossips to enhance the sense of a socially stifling world, and encourages inventive choreography, bold characterization, and creative doubling to produce a fresh take on a well-beloved story.
