Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley
Written by Lauren Gunderson (author of this past season’s Silent Sky) and Margot Melcon, this “sequel” to Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice sees the Bennet sisters reunited for Christmas at the home of Lizzy and her husband, Mr. Darcy.
Mary, the bookish middle sister, is still unattached. Mr. Darcy announces that he’s invited Arthur to join them for the holidays at Pemberley. Thus begins the inevitable romance. This new play is destined to be a holiday classic.
Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.
November 29 - December 15, 2019
8:00 PM – Nov 29, 30; Dec 6, 7, 12, 13, 14
2:00 PM – Dec 1, 7, 8, 14, 15
* "Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley" is SOLD OUT *
Firehall Theatre
213 Second St.
Cobourg
905-372-2210 | 1-855-372-2210
Dinner & A Show
New this year, enjoy a delicious prix fixe menu at Cucina Urbana before taking in a great Northumberland Players show!
For $65, you get a tasty dinner with gratuities and taxes included (drinks extra), followed by the show at the Firehall theatre.
To purchase, simply choose the "Dinner & Show" option when you buy your ticket, call Cucina Urbana at (905) 377-9100 to make your reservations for the night of the performance, and show your ticket at dinner.
About the Show
Written in 2016 by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, the play continues with the story of "Pride and Prejudice".
Two years after the end of the Jane Austen’s 1813 novel "Pride and Prejudice", Lizzy Bennet is now delirously happy married to Mr. Darcy. It’s Christmastime, and the whole Bennet clan is descending on the Darcys’ Pemberley estate. Arriving first are three of Lizzy’s sisters: Jane, pregnant with the child of her husband, Mr. Bingley, a close friend of Mr. Darcy; Lydia, young and innocent, is married to Mr. Wickham who is not attending the festivities. She insists that she is very happy, but the sisters think differently; and Mary, the Miss Bennet of the title. Mary’s bookish ways cast doubts on her prospects for marriage, a concern for all, except Mary.
As we know, love is always in the air in an Austen drawing room. Enter Mr. Arthur de Bourgh. Mr. de Bourgh’s aunt has recently passed and has left Arthur her estate and title, making him a landed gentry. And of course, Arthur and Mary bond over their mutual interest in geography and realize they are meant for each other. But before anything happens, there are some misunderstandings and events to overcome...
In the end, just like an Austen novel, love wins out and all live very happily ever after.
“Precise, witty, and heartwarming” – A modern twist on a classic novel.
November 27, 2019Pemberley – the Real Buildings Behind the Fictional Estate
November 22, 2019Cast & Creative Team
Gallery
Reviews
‘Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley’ picks up where Jane Austin left off
There is never, not for a single minute, a dull moment, writes columnist Selena Forsyth
Remember the Bennet sisters: Jane, Mary, Catherine (Kitty), Lydia and Elizabeth (Lizzy)? Lots of pride and lots of prejudice but at the end they all lived happily ever after. Sort of.
Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley, the Northumberland Players production at the Firehall Theatre, picks up where Jane Austin left off. Written by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, the story starts two years after the conclusion of Pride and Prejudice.
“Mr. Darcy sends you all the love in the world that he can spare from me. You are all to come to Pemberley at Christmas.” Lizzy, Chapter 60, Pride and Prejudice.
So. Lizzy and Mr. Darcy invite the sisters to their home, Pemberley, for Christmas 1815. Jane arrives, with her husband Mr. Bingley. Lydia arrives but without her husband, Mr. Wickham, and poor, plain Mary arrives but she doesn’t have a husband.
She’s the serious one who reads a lot and plays music and was written off by Jane Austen as a spinster who would never marry. But there is another guest: Arthur de Bourgh, friend of Mr. Darcy, “a single man in possession of a good fortune.” He reads a lot.
Spoiler alert. There is a happy ending. But to get there you will belly laugh, you will smile a lot, you will be secretly encouraging bad behaviour (Well, OK. I did.) and you will be absolutely smitten with every member of this wild and wonderful cast and the characters they play.
Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley is deliciously funny, full of plot twists — letters that get into the wrong hands etc. — and there is never, not for a single minute, a dull moment. The 1815 costumes are wonderful, the set is amazing, the lighting and sound effects are perfect and the actors are brilliant and have extremely good English accents.
They also all have incredible hairdos, their own hair, with ringlets and bows and braids and things. Sigh. And the direction is remarkable, thanks to Val and Tim Russell.
Some wonderful bits. Never a step out of place. What a team.
Thank you, Northumberland Players, for the perfect Christmas play. Loved every minute.
Miss Bennet will be at the Firehall until Dec. 15.
- Originally published in the Northumberland News
The FIrehall Theatre
Location
The Firehall Theatre is located behind Victoria Hall in downtown Cobourg. Seating is general admission.
Address
213 Second St.
Cobourg, ON
K9A 2M2
Getting Here
Parking is available across Second St. in public lots – please note that this parking is only valid for two hours.
Street parking is available around the theatre.
Cobourg Transit stops less than a block away: Route 1 at :10 and :45, and Route 2 at :15 and :42. For more information, see cobourg.ca.