Buffalo Theatre’s ‘The Wickhams’ an entertaining alternative for holiday theatergoers
“The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” — 3 stars
Familiarity with Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” isn’t essential to appreciating Buffalo Theatre Ensemble’s charming production of “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley.”
But it helps.
Inspired by Austen’s famous novel of manners, “The Wickhams” is the second of three plays by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon that examines the lives (and romances) of the Bennet sisters after “Pride and Prejudice.”
The time is 1815, two years after Elizabeth Bennet (Paige Klopfenstein) and Fitzwilliam Darcy (Robert Hunter Bry) wed. The occasion is Christmas. And the setting is Darcy’s vast Pemberley estate, specifically the servants quarters — a rustic, cozy “below stairs” space designed by Jacqueline and Richard Penrod — where all the characters gravitate.
“The Wickhams” unfolds concurrently with “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” the first in Gunderson and Melcon’s trilogy, which BTE produced last year at this time. That production earned the company its first Joseph Jefferson Award for designer Aly Greaves Amidei’s period costumes, which are even lovelier this time around.
Upstairs, Elizabeth and Darcy entertain her flighty youngest sister Lydia (Danielle Kerr, who manages to make disarming vanity and immaturity) and other unseen relatives.
Downstairs, consummate housekeeper Mrs. Reynolds (a droll, discreet Kelli Walker), whose command over every situation is never in doubt, presides over new housemaid, the wise-beyond-her-years Cassie (a plucky, independent Jamila Joiner) and footman Brian (the eager, affable Beck Damron), a budding inventor who harbors a crush on childhood pal Cassie.
Initially, the action centers around the servants’ holiday preparations, which include copious orange biscuits to satisfy the cravings of Pemberley’s inhabitants. The arrival of an unwelcome visitor, Lydia’s no-good, near penniless husband, George Wickham (McGuire Price), threatens to disrupt the celebration.
The son of a Pemberley steward, Wickham grew up with Darcy, who considered Wickham a friend until he tried to seduce Darcy’s younger sister. Later, after Wickham ran off with Lydia, Darcy forced Wickham to marry the teenager (unbeknownst to her) to preserve the Bennet family’s reputation and barred him from Pemberley.
When Wickham arrives at the estate, drunk and bloodied on the day before Christmas, Elizabeth and the servants struggle to hide him from both his wife and brother-in-law and minimize the ensuing chaos.
Ably written, “The Wickhams” remains (mostly) faithful to Austen and her characters. Yet there is a decidedly feminist slant to the play, which sets women firmly in control (whether their male counterparts realize it or not). Gunderson and Melcon make that clear from the start. It’s evident in Klopfenstein’s quick-thinking, take-charge Elizabeth, Walker’s deliberate Mrs. Reynolds and Joiner’s determined Cassie. By the time the curtain falls, even Kerr’s Lydia has begun to assert her power.
A delightful holiday confection, BTE’s solidly acted revival features Bry, Klopfenstein and Kerr reprising their roles from 2023’s “Miss Bennet.” Perhaps we’ll see them again next year in a revival of “Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley,” the final play in Gunderson and Melcon’s trilogy.
How about it, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble?
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Location: Buffalo Theatre Ensemble at the McAninch Arts Center, College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn, (630) 942-4000, btechicago.com, atthemac.org
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 15
Tickets: $44
Running time: About 2 hours, with intermission
Rating: For teens and older, some adult themes