REVIEW: Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) - QPAC

Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of)

Produced by: Neil Gooding Productions & Woodward Productions

Venue: QPAC Playhouse

Written by: Isobel McArthur, after Jane Austen

Directed by: Simon Harvey

Date Attended: 30 September 2026

Associate Direction & Choreography: Simone Sault

Set & Costume Design: Ana Inés Jabares-Pita

Lighting Design: Jason Bovaird

Composition & Sound: Michael John McCarthy

Sound Design: Marcello Lo Ricco

Musical Direction: Kohan van Sambeeck

Dialect Coach: Jennifer White

Photography: James Terry

“I've got a really sexy pair of ankles.”

Before a single Bennet daughter has made any stupid romantic decisions, the household maids have the audience doing the YMCA. Dressed in white frocks, black boots, and yellow cleaning gloves, they wander through the theatre stalls making friendly conversation and encourage a Mexican wave for us in the balcony.

Written by Isobel McArthur and directed by Simon Harvey, Pride & Prejudice (sort of) takes one of literature's most beloved romances, hands it to the servants, and lets five versatile performers run riot with it. There are Regency gowns, switching accents, disastrous marriage prospects, live instruments, karaoke classics, quick changes, and enough drama to keep Mrs Bennet permanently on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Somewhere among the chaos, Austen's original story remains intact. Austen's sharp observations about class, gender, and the absurdities of human behaviour have always been witty, even if the bonnets and ballroom etiquette might put some people off. McArthur simply turns up the volume. The Bennet household is still desperately trying to marry off five daughters because, in Regency England, a woman's financial future depends on securing a husband. Romance is lovely, of course, but so is having somewhere to live. While the wealthy families of Longbourn, Netherfield, and Pemberley concern themselves with marriage, manners, and money, their overworked servants have been watching the whole business unfold. Now they're taking charge of the storytelling! And the best part? Not a single man in the cast.

The five sisters bicker, tease, interfere, gossip, and are prepared to strangle one another at a moment's notice. Like any siblings would, regardless of era. Their personalities are exaggerated: the overlooked Mary, the dramatic Lydia, the absent Kitty, the lovestruck Jane, and Elizabeth, whose tolerance for people is very limited.

Teo Vergara plays Elizabeth Bennet with all the bite and sarcasm the character deserves. Their Liz is outspoken, intelligent, stubborn, and unimpressed by the social circus surrounding her. When Mr Darcy arrives with his considerable fortune and equally considerable inability to hold a conversation, the familiar battle of wits begins. He's the OG socially awkward rich man.

Zoe Ioannou plays both Mrs Bennet and Mr Darcy, two characters who could hardly occupy more distant ends of the emotional spectrum. Her Mrs Bennet is loud, embarrassing, and perpetually melodramatic. Her Darcy, meanwhile, barely moves a facial muscle. With his nose in the air, an intimidating stare, and a posture suggesting he'd rather be anywhere else, he's a complete buzzkill. His manspreading is so extreme that she's practically holding a second-position plié.

"You know who I can't stand? People."

The audience is still rooting for Elizabeth and Zoe as Mr Darcy. Every meaningful glance, awkward exchange, and romantic development earns a chorus of gasps, cheers, and appreciative 'ooohs'. Considering we've known how this relationship ends for more than 200 years, the excitement is unexpected and adorable.

Amy Lehpamer is a particular favourite of mine, performing as Charles Bingley, Caroline Bingley, and Charlotte Lucas. Her Caroline is the sort of wealthy, insufferably superior woman who could comfortably join Pru and Trude from Kath & Kim for a lengthy discussion about expensive homewares and people they consider beneath them. She even borrows their accent, and I couldn't stop mimicking it during interval. Her pursuit of Darcy inspires an outrageous display of seduction, complete with peacocking and a Nutbush dance break. I couldn't tell how much was choreographed and how much Amy improvised. As Charlotte, Lehpamer introduces an unexpected romantic crush that adds a different perspective to the familiar story.

Ruby Shannon throws herself into the different personalities of Mary Bennet, Lydia Bennet, and Mr Collins. The latter is an irritating creation, all nasal delivery, misplaced confidence, and a remarkable talent for misunderstanding social situations. Shannon switches between the sisters' exaggerated personalities and Collins' pompous nonsense at remarkable speed.

Koari Maeda Judge is equally busy as Jane Bennet, George Wickham, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Her Jane is all romantic optimism and girlish desperation, while Wickham is theatrical as hell and Lady Catherine's sense of self-importance is as bloated as a pufferfish. And spare a thought for Mr Bennet, represented by an armchair and a newspaper. Given how much he contributes to solving his family's problems, it's an accurate portrayal.

Ana Inés Jabares-Pita's set and costumes create a Regency playground. A sweeping white staircase dominates the stage, books decorate the steps, and a towering bookcase stretches so high you'd need a pogo stick to reach the upper shelves. The elegant drawing room accommodates modern intrusions too, from red plastic party cups and Pringles to microphones and an enormous rubbish bin dubbed the 'Jane Aust-Bin'. Empire-waist gowns, decorative feathers, and elaborate period detailing fill the stage, while the actors swap bonnets, jackets, and accessories at breakneck speed.

The Netherfield ball descends into chaos, with karaoke replacing the refined entertainment Austen might have imagined. Jane and Bingley's romantic duet of 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' provides a sweet musical interlude, while Darcy receives a deserved serenade of 'You're So Vain'. Act Two opens with 'Holding Out for a Hero', which is certainly one way to drag an audience back from interval. 'Careless Whisper', 'Smooth Operator', and 'Chapel of Love' also make appearances, sometimes only for a fleeting musical joke before the story races onwards. A personal favourite is Jane arriving on horseback, singing 'At Last' with enormous romantic conviction. The horse itself is a magnificent theatrical contraption, accompanied by traditional coconut-shell hoofbeats. Although I was half-expecting Daryl Braithwaite's 'The Horses' to start playing. A missed opportunity, perhaps?

The performers provide live musical accompaniment throughout. Lehpamer moves between violin and piano, Shannon plays guitar and kazoo, and Maeda Judge handles percussion, accordion, and xylophone. The arrangements, under musical director Kohan van Sambeeck, are full of playful surprises.

Under Simon Harvey's direction, with associate direction and choreography by Simone Sault, the action moves at an alarming pace. Entrances, exits, musical interruptions, physical comedy, and dramatic scene changes arrive in rapid succession. The lighting by Jason Bovaird and sound by Michael John McCarthy and Marcello Lo Ricco punctuate revelations and overblown entrances with precise comic timing. Between the handheld microphones, head mics, live instruments, and constant character changes, I can only imagine the backstage coordination required. Somewhere, a stage manager deserves an enormous glass of wine.

The production also knows its audience. There are cheeky references to famous screen adaptations, including a nod to Darcy's absence from a certain lake. Contemporary expressions slip casually into the Regency dialogue, with one servant declaring Mr Darcy a "dead set legend", while another character surveys the wealthy surroundings and announces, "Fuck me, it's posh!" This is Austen with swearing, sexual innuendo, and no respect for the fourth wall.

Familiarity with Pride and Prejudice helps. Some of the funniest jokes rely on recognising the characters, anticipating plot developments, or knowing how thoroughly McArthur is misbehaving with the source material. With five actors portraying so many people, newcomers may need a moment to catch up. Still, I enjoyed hearing audience members gasp at revelations as though the story had only just been published.

Beneath all the partying, ridiculous accents, and karaoke, the story's gender politics remain relevant. These women are constantly scrutinised, judged, and encouraged to secure their futures through marriage. Having performers take on both female and male roles adds another layer of commentary. The servants, usually overlooked in grand romantic narratives, finally get to have their say. Having recently enjoyed Queensland Theatre Company's more traditional production of Pride and Prejudice, I find it fascinating how differently the same material can be interpreted. Austen's characters are so richly drawn that they can survive even the most outrageous adaptations.

Pride & Prejudice (sort of) is so ridiculously funny that I found myself cackling obnoxiously throughout. It's a rom-com for literature lovers and musical theatre enthusiasts, full of affection for the novel it's busy dismantling. And as someone stuck living with her mum, I could've done without the pointed observation that "loads of people live with their mums indefinitely..."