History is on something of a collision course with Skokie’s Northlight Theatre. While actors dig into a sequel to Jane Austen’s indisputably feminist novel “Pride and Prejudice,” the ultimate glass ceiling — that of the Oval Office — seems to be cracking. Austen would surely be gobsmacked.
That ceiling was almost inconceivably closer to the floor in the early 19th century world of “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” opening in previews Nov. 10. Margot Melcon and Lauren Gunderson’s drama begins three years post-“Pride and Prejudice,” a time when, happy marriages notwithstanding, women aren’t fully people, legally speaking. Those judicially codified restrictions play large in “Miss Bennet” when women couldn’t vote, inherit property or even open a bank account.
And while Austen gave the beloved Elizabeth Bennet a happily-ever-after with Fitzwilliam Darcy, the author left Lizzie’s sisters in less certain straits. As “Miss Bennet” picks up the story, middle sister Mary (played by Emily Berman) is unmarried and struggling to reconcile her dreams with society’s misogynistic rules. Youngest sister Lydia (Jennifer Latimore) is married to a tosser and isn’t exactly living in a world of domestic bliss. As for Elizabeth, she’s 22 and suddenly in charge of a household with a staff of close to 100.
More Top Picks Buying Guides
“Here’s what makes this sequel a great, feminist play,” Director Jessica Thebus says. “It’s a story about choices, the ones women have and the ones they don’t. It imagines situations where women can make independent choices while still acknowledging the rules that they’re bound by.”
The piece is also about how your place in a family can shape your place in the wider world, Thebus adds.
“What happens to the sister who doesn’t get the witty, charming, kind and caring husband?” Thebus says. “There’s a really poignant line that Mary has: ‘I have the most charming older sisters in the nation. I have the prettiest younger sisters in the nation. And me? I lack definition.'”
The oldest Bennet sister is, of course, Elizabeth, famously married to Darcy at the close of “Pride and Prejudice.” Samantha Beach takes on the role for Northlight while Alex Goodrich plays Darcy.
“What I love about this show is the way we see a tribe of women helping each other,” Beach says. “And it’s three women choosing to redefine their next steps in life, even within a very narrow set of circumstances. Everyone is examining their options — limited as they are — and figuring out what’s to pursue lives of substance.
‘Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley’
When: Nov. 10–Dec .18
Where: Northlight Theatre, 9501 N. Skokie Blvd., Skokie
Tickets: $30-$81
Information: 847-673-6300; Northlight.org