Sophie Wynkoop
Many people know and cherish Jane Austen’s classic novel, Pride and Prejudice. Written and published in 1813, it quickly became many people’s favorite love story. On Saturday, May 20th, many students came to the Tokyo International Players’s theater to watch Saint Maur’s very own Mr. Gregoriades perform in Pride and Prejudice. The performance was a riveting account of the classic novel, and Mr. G’s acting as Mr. Collins and Wickham certainly added to its quality.
The play follows Elizabeth (Lizzy) Bennet, who is the daughter of a country gentleman. Early in the play she meets Fitzwilliam Darcy, an extremely wealthy aristocratic landowner. After developing a romantic relationship, they must face the trials and tribulations of coming from different financial backgrounds and different types of families. The play ends with Lizzy and Darcy getting married and seemingly living happily ever after. The overall message of this play was to not make snap judgements or assume things about people when you are not qualified to do so.
The play opened with live piano and violin music, a touch that I appreciated as it added to the romantic atmosphere. The actors came onto stage one-by-one, except all the women were wearing blind-folds. Each woman found a complimentary man to dance with and began to waltz around the stage in circular motions. I think the opening of the play being a deeply sensual yet somewhat mysterious ballroom dance was an excellent directorial choice. It definitely compelled me to get lost in the story, and made me want to keep watching.
Something I particularly enjoyed about the play was that not much was changed from the original plot of the book. Some may say that that aspect made it tedious as they already knew the direction the story was going in, but I believe that it made the transcendence of the original Pride and Prejudice shine through the play.
Of course, a lot of the dynamics of the play were portrayed through the use of two characters: Mr. Collins and Wickham. Luckily, I was able to interview Mr. G and get some insight into what performing in Pride and Prejudice was like for him.
The first question I asked him had to do with his involvement in the performance. I was very curious to know his motive for participating in the play. “We haven’t been able to do a full in person live production since Covid started,” Mr. G said. “When they announced this I thought that it would be something that would appeal to me and that it kind of fits my sort of range as an actor.” He also commented on what the production was changing about the original Pride and Prejudice, stating, “I think it’s trying to translate Austen for a contemporary audience so they can better understand what was happening in that time. The intention with the play was to make it engaging and entertaining for a 21st century audience that may not have the patience to read the entire novel or understand all of the intricacies of the novel itself.”
One thing I was especially curious about was how Mr. G handled playing two characters with such different personalities. “We spent a lot of time in rehearsals working on the physicality of playing both characters,” he explained. “Wickham held more incentive energy like high up in his chest and he watched some more slowly and had a slightly deeper voice than Collins.” Mr. G would agree with the statement that playing characters with almost opposite personalities is easier than playing similar characters. “It was definitely interesting acting more energetic in the role of Mr. Collins rather than being kind of contained.” Although Mr. G admits that the task was difficult, he also expresses that he would absolutely do it again if given the opportunity.
The last question I inquired of Mr. G was what he did when he wasn’t on stage. This is obviously more of a general question and not as related to Pride and Prejudice. Mr. G said that he mostly spent time preparing for his next scene whether that be as Mr. Collins or Wickam. The costume changes were also something that Mr. G deemed stressful, “That [changing costumes] was not so much fun but I was very lucky that I had a personal assistant that helped me with costuming issues.”
From the live music to the original storyline, Tokyo International Players adaptation of Pride and Prejudice acts as an homage to the classic novel. Mr. G’s performance leaves us inquiring, “What will be his next role as an actor and influential drama teacher here at Saint Maur?” This is something that we will find out as we follow him to his next amazing performance.
Sophie Wynkoop