In CU Boulder’s intimate yet surprisingly spacious Roe Green Theater, a student production of Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice comes alive. The show wields screwball comedy, slapstick physicality, and the occasional sober moment made all the more impactful amidst high-decibel chaos.  

Most noticeable, perhaps because it is so seamlessly unnoticeable, is the level of craftsmanship from CU Present’s stagecraft. Incredible sets are meticulously woven between darkened scene-changes; the stacked audience distracted by a game of catch, or an argument between the production’s electric Lydia Bennet (Avery Lichty) and eclectic Mary Bennet (Nathan Hunt). It is revealed to the audience at the end of each performance that the sets, staging, lighting, sound design, and costuming—the cumulative soul of the production—were all student made. So often forgotten in the hypnotic performance of talented student actors is the tireless tech team, directed by Gwen Burke, who makes the very production possible. 

Hamill’s take on Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is no less amusing, though noticeably more percussive. While all characters are flawed in the original novel, Hamill seeks to flay and display hypocrisy and stubbornness, specifically in the characters of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy (Shannon Kosman and Ian Von Pechmann). The student production keeps all the yearning of Austin’s novel while imbuing a certain introspection of behavior that reveals itself about two-hundred years later, such as a heavy comedic focus on Mr. Collins’ burning passion for his own cousins.  

The production heralds countless memorable performances; Mr. Bennet’s dry one-liners to Mrs. Bennet’s cacophonous concern for her daughter’s marriageability; Darcy’s stilted insulting declarations of love to Mr. Bingley’s canine-ish charm, though there is exceptional skill found in the often overlooked Charlotte Lucas.  

Charlotte Lucas (Norah Shuey), in perhaps every adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, serves as a cautionary tale; a prudent reality which reminds Elizabeth Bennet of her situation and her role in 19th century British society. Charlotte is tasked with a terrible fate from her inception in the narrative, in every re-telling she is wed to the obnoxious Mr. Collins out of fear of her lack of desirability as a wife. Shuey’s depiction of Charlotte retains the detached acceptance of the original character, her sacrifice a powerful reminder to the cheerfully naive Bennet sisters of the role of wife – the paramount unfairness that comes inherent with the very word of woman.  

Shuey’s Charlotte begs Elizabeth and the Bennet sisters for their understanding, she begs a tearful promise that her friendship with Elizabeth will not be broken with her bond to Collins, a promise left unanswered. Norah Shuey reminds the audience to be mindful of the soul of Austen’s work – the reality many women face in the modern day. Happiness is not guaranteed, and not everyone gets the fairytale ending.   

Pride and Prejudice, directed by CU Boulder graduate student James Early, demonstrates the creativity, ingenuity, and genuine passion CU’s theater performance program has for its craft.