Maine South presents "Pride and Prejudice"

Maine South High School Theater students and staff will present as their fall play, “Pride and Prejudice,” on the evenings of Thursday, October 20, Friday, October 21 and Saturday, October 22.

Director John Muszynski said this stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel was written by Jon Jory, whom Muszynski terms a “master” at turning Austen’s 19th Century literary work into engaging and accessible theater for 21st Century audiences.  Jory recently completed a turn at directing his own adaptation of  Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” at Skokie’s Northlight Theatre.

Muszynski said he pitched the idea of staging “Pride and Prejudice” to South students by urging them to “think of it as British ‘Gilmore Girls:’ really intelligent, very fast, but you still understand everything that's going on. And then, add to that that it's British.”  South students liked the concept, and now 20 are preparing for the show as cast members, with an additional 75 working on the crew, with stage, set construction and painting, props, lighting, makeup or audio under the technical direction of Patrick Sanchez and costuming of Lauri McCleneghan.

“How do you take this epic novel and turn it into a 2:15 show”” Muszynski asks. “He (Jory) finds vehicles to keep the story moving. He keeps us up with all the characters and all the complications and still manages to keep the language, which I love.”  One particularly helpful device, Muszynski said, is Jory’s use of six doors, three on the set’s upper level, three on the lower.  Each time a character is referenced who is not part of that particular scene, he or she pops out of the door, reminding the audience of who he or she is and why he or she is important.

“At first I was concerned that people who have not read the novel or not read it recently might have trouble keeping things straight, but I now believe it's a great two-hour, 15-minute read,” Muszynski said. “I'm also excited about costumes. This was a time of empire waists and parasols, and Lauri is doing an outstanding job with the students on the costumes.”

Each performance begins at 7:30 p.m., and tickets will cost $6 at the door.  Maine South is located at 1111 South Dee Road in Park Ridge.