Another review of Berkeley stage production of EMMA
The Daily Review has reviewed the current production of EMMA in Berkeley.
In the’90s there was an absolute Austen craze that has yet to totally fade away. As a result of all that enthusiasm, we have two movie adaptations of “Emma” relatively fresh in our minds. There’s the 1997 Gwyneth Paltrow version, which boasts abundant charm, and Alicia Silverstone in “Clueless,” one of the sharpest Austen adaptations this side of Emma Thompson’s “Sense and Sensibility.”
In both movies, the Emma character has an innocence and naivet that explains her lapses into vanity, snobbishness and self-delusion.
In the stage version, Emma (played by Grace, who was fighting a bad cold on opening night) comes across as more calculating and worldly. The result is an Emma who is mean and not terribly bright — hardly someone you want to spend an evening with. Nor do you much care if she ends up in the arms of semi-dashing Mr. Knightley (Wyka).
Not bad lit crit for a theatre critic.
ETA, November 23: The Berkeley Daily Planet likes it, but the reviewer cheerfully admits to an unfamiliarity with the source material:
Certainly anyone determined to see a rendition of the “real” characters and the wit that they reme mber from Austen will find the play an irritating failure. But if you can rid yourself of such expectations, this production definitely has its own charms.
Well, there you go. If any AustenBlog readers have seen the production, we’d love to publish your review!
