The Stage

Lizzy, Darcy & Jane

Published Wednesday 23 January 2008 at 12:25 by Katie Jackson

Joanna Norland treads well-worn ground as she hoists author Jane Austen out of her shadowy domain and throws her into the spotlight. Norland’s Austen is childlike, vulnerable and somewhat tedious. Nevertheless, there is something rather charming about this little gem of fringe theatre. Like the writing, the acting is somewhat shaky, but this this bookish little play has the feel of a small and hard-won triumph.

Lizzy, Darcy & Jane follows Austen’s early womanhood as she struggles to grapple with society’s prescriptions. Jane’s active imagination is constantly wandering from reality and entering a world where her characters develop and mature as she does. Disappointed in love, Jane sentences her emphatic imaginary friend, Lizzy Bennet, to a life married to the insufferable Mr Collins, but Lizzy is too wilful for her author and retains her questionable relationship with a certain brooding Mr Darcy.

Persistently interesting but slow moving, Lizzy, Darcy and Jane reflects the mood and charm of Jane Austen’s work perfectly. Unfortunately, it revels in its references to the original text and bubbles with inside jokes to an almost alienating extent. It is clearly a labour of love for C Company, but there is nothing vital or powerful about this piece, and it fails to do justice to Lizzy, Darcy or Jane.