COMMENTARY BY RICK PENDER
Training programs for professional actors have a different raison d’être than professional theaters in the “real world.” The Acting program at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music gives students a broad preparation from classics to modern material, different acting styles and various environments they might encounter once they graduate. The plays produced are chosen as much for their academic and experiential use as to entertain audiences. For the maximum impact, such experiences might be brief, with rehearsals and technical preparation as valuable as the actual onstage performance.
Such is the case with many productions at CCM. Take for instance the October 2-3-4, 2025, staging of a theatrical adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1813 romance, Pride and Prejudice by Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan. This clever script has been around since 2009; it was staged by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park back in 2014. (Here’s a link to my CityBeat review of that production: https://www.citybeat.com/arts/pride-and-prejudice-review-12229752/)
The CCM production is only available for audiences for three days, four public performances. The student actors, designers and technicians began working on it in August, taking about six weeks of rehearsals, costuming, set design and more to ready the show.
I attended the opening performance on Thursday evening, Oct. 2, on the stage of CCM’s Patricia Corbett Theater. An elegant, simple set — a curved Regency-styled staircase, a stage turntable holding a partial wall of double doors and windows that rotated for various scene configurations — was designed by M.F.A. graduate student Taylor Helms. The PCT proscenium was framed with pieces subtly suggesting an open book.
With subtle lighting by designer Ben Niemczyk, another M.F.A. candidate, scenes move swiftly and the recollective moments are nicely isolated. Also supporting the overall flow of this production is a lovely chiming soundtrack, managed by sound designer Nick Feldman, an undergraduate B.F.A. student.
The cast of undergraduate actors, mostly seniors, took on the familiar characters of Hanreddy and Sullivan’s stylized translation of Austen’s novel. Unlike some adaptations that have been popular in the 21st century thanks to movies and TV adaptations, this one does not use a narrator. Instead the action contains familiar scenes of the Bennet family struggling with five daughters and no inheritance to increase the girls’ marriage prospects. But these are often sped along quickly collapsing time and occasionally recalling an earlier moment that needs reinterpretation. (Even with these techniques, this production, promised as two hours, 15 minutes, actually ran 30 minutes longer.)
Thes student actors have been well trained to hold audience interest. This production portrays two types of characters — comic caricatures and more believable central roles. The action swirls around pragmatic, sensible, no nonsense second daughter Lizzie Bennet, played by Mallory Bolser, and Bryce Nevison as the bottled-up Mr. Darcy who eventually melts away when he must confess his infatuation with Lizzie. These two actors show considerable breadth and promise: She ranges from exasperation to sweet sisterly concern, while he is stone-faced in the early going, constantly thwarted by the simplest of encounters and conversations. Their seesaw relationship is the core of the tale, and these two actors carry it off superbly.
The believable characters are significantly outnumbered by the caricatures, which provide ample opportunities for young actors to hone their comedic skills. Carson Mehlbauer is especially amusing as the impatient, nervous Mr. Collins, a silly clergyman desperate for a wife — any wife — and constantly deferring to his arrogant, arch patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Lily Villaflor). Mehlbauer plays the twitchy role to the hilt, physically and verbally, and his pursuit of Lizzie is a comic highlight.
Mrs. Bennet, played by Amanda Sant, is another over-the-top character, at her wit’s end as she tries to get her daughters married off. The role demands non-stop anxiety and 180-degree turns when things unexpectedly go her way. Trace Henderson as Mr. Bennet, the put-upon father, is a lesser character, but he steps up firmly and fatherly when he’s called upon to make decisions regarding various suitors.
The four Bennet sisters beyond Lizzie tend to be more one note, although the eldest, Jane (Lauren Grammer), is sweet and composed, if understated. The three silly adolescent younger ones — shy Kitty (Maria Leigh), musical Mary (Katie Reeser), and the youngest, impetuous Lydia (Dnithi Fernando) — are great fun to watch as an ensemble of high-energy comic talent. Likewise, several suitors, Bingley (Gavin Elbert) and Wickham (Nikolas Gray — a student from Ukraine!) in particular, are handsomely bland, as required of possible marriage material.
The show requires a big cast to populate as soldiers, friends and others who are as much scenery as active participants. Nevertheless, such roles are good training for young actors, since that’s the kind of opportunities they’re most likely to find early in their careers. But it’s the strong performances by Bolser and Nevison that carry Pride and Prejudice’s emotional arc and deliver the play’s satisfying romantic conclusion.
Special credit is due to director Susan Felder, Associate Professor of Acting and Movement, who staged the production. Wrangling this many students — beautifully costumed by Rachel Luneke and Sadie Holt and wigged and made-up by M O’Donnell — for this production of Pride and Prejudice has surely been a significant teaching opportunity for everyone involved.
Performances continue on Friday and Saturday evenings as well as a matinee on Saturday: https://ccmonstage.universitytickets.com/
PHOTOS BY MARK LYONS
I truly enjoyed the play. The actors were perfectly cast! Their ability to hold the audience with all the emotions. Loved it !