Shakespeare Theatre of NJ tackles complexities of Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’

AVERY BRUNKUS

Billie Wyatt, left, and Mandi Masden co-star in The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s production of “Sense and Sensibility.”

Elinor is ruled by her head. Marianne, by her heart. And these two sisters’ crooked paths toward matrimonial bliss is the subject of Jane Austen’s 1811 novel “Sense and Sensibility.” (Elinor is full of sense; Marianne, of sensibility — or to use a synonym more frequently heard in the 21st century, sensitivity.)

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is currently presenting Jessica Swale’s 2014 stage adaptation of the novel, with deeply affecting performances by Mandi Masden, as Elinor, and Billie Wyatt, as Marianne; lots of striking work, elsewhere, among the cast of nine (who play more than 20 roles, between them); and suitably classy sets and costumes.

This is a fairly long evening at the theater, with a 100-minute first act and a 70-minute second act — the story is quite complicated and, honestly, I did feel that the second act dragged, a little. But overall, I also felt that this production does a good job of bringing this literary classic to vivid life.

This refined, upper-class world may seem very foreign to us. But the storyline, in which the two sisters learn that people are not always what they seem to be, offers a timeless message.

Nisi Sturgis — who co-starred in a Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey production of another Austen novel, “Pride and Prejudice,” back in 2006 — directs, and writes in the program that “we return to Jane Austen again and again because we know that our perceptions about each other will always be, to some extent, wrong. Jane presents the value of ultimately extending grace towards others and allowing our perceptions to change. She shows us how that thorny process can lead us to richer relationships and a deeper knowledge of ourselves.”

AVERY BRUNKUS

Patrick Toon and Mandi Masden in “Sense and Sensibility.”

The play, set in England in 1797, begins with Elinor and Marianne left in financial distress by the death of their father and the stinginess shown to them and their mother (Lynnette R. Freeman) by their brother John (Patrick Toon), who inherited their father’s fortune. John wants to do better by them, actually, but is pressured to give them little money to live on by his monstrous wife Fanny (Kayla Ryan Walsh). He doesn’t have the strength or the will to stand up to her, and just kind of shrugs and goes along with her cruel wishes.

Elinor and Marianne are of marrying age, though, and a suitably prosperous spouse could offer a way out of the predicament that these three women — plus Margaret (Terra Chaney), a younger sister who is more interested in exploring nature than following the twists and turns of her sisters’ love lives — face. But the way forward is not so clear.

The shy, awkward Edward (Patrick Andrew Jones), who is Fanny’s brother, shows an interest in Elinor, but then backs off and disappears, mysteriously, from their lives. Marianne and the dashing, boyishly romantic Willoughby (Christian Frost) fall for each other — they seem like kindred spirits, in a storybook romance — but he stops short of proposing, and then vanishes, as well.

Meanwhile, the kind but somewhat stodgy Col. Brandon (Sean Mahan) becomes enamored with Marianne. But he is scandalously old (35!) and doesn’t seem to offer what she wants in a mate, anyway. And he has a knack for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. A moment after Marianne talks about her disdain for the poetry of Alexander Pope, he enters the room with the gift of an Alexander Pope book in his hand.

AVERY BRUNKUS

Kayla Ryan Walsh in “Sense and Sensibility.”

As mentioned above, most of these actors take on multiple roles. In addition to playing Fanny, Walsh makes a big, scene-stealing impression as the loud, good-natured busybody Mrs. Jennings, who salivates over the opportunity to help in getting the sisters married. Chaney, who projects child-like innocence as Margaret, also transforms herself into a totally different character: the conniving Lucy Steele, one of the sister’s romantic rivals. And Jones gets to play both the plainspoken, unassuming Edward and his shallow, foppish brother Robert.

I don’t think I’m revealing too much to say that everything works out for Elinor and Marianne; and comeuppances are served to those who deserve them.

It could be said that some — maybe most — of the characters, beyond Elinor and Marianne, are a bit one-dimensional. Even cartoonish, at times. But that is more of an observation than a complaint. All that really matters, in “Sense and Sensibility,” is that the sisters come across as real, and that you get caught up in the drama of their lives. And that is certainly the case here.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will present “Sense and Sensibility” at its F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre at Drew University in Madison through Sept. 22. Visit shakespearenj.org.