Kate Hamill’s adaptation teeters over the edge in places in a spot-on production in the Springs

Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility gets a rollicking dramatization in a new Theatreworks production at the Colorado Springs ENT Center. The play, adapted from Austen’s novel by award-winning actor/playwright Kate Hamill, chronicles the travails and triumphs of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. The two sisters, impoverished by their heartless stepbrother and his wife, seek to combine love and economic security in the only way available to women in 19^th century England: respectable marriage.

Two romantic triangles drive the action: Elinor, Edward Ferrars and Lucy Steele constitute one triangle, and Marianne, John Willoughby and Colonel Brandon make up the other. The characters must sort out the scheming, manipulative and opportunistic hearts from the sincere and honest ones, all the while keeping an eye out for financial prudence.

Photo: Isaiah Downing courtesy of the Ent Center for the Arts at UCCS

Lively production

This lively production, directed by Caitlin Lowans, Producing Artistic Director at Theatreworks, is resolutely determined to have fun and there’s more than a whiff of Monty Python in the air. Actors take on the roles of horses, carriages and barking dogs, for example. Mrs. Jennings, a well-meaning but clueless benefactor of the Dashwoods, is played by a different actor each time the character appears. A purple hat ensures continuity of character.

The characterization of Mrs. Jennings may have been inspired by Peter Cook’s “Impressive Clergyman” character who officiates at the “mawwiage” of Buttercup and Prince Humperdinck in The Princess Bride. It’s a funny idea, but some of the actors handle the character’s speech impediment, pronouncing his “r’s” as “w’s,” more effectively than others.

All the actors except the principals playing Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, Anatasha Blakely and Carla Brown, respectively, take multiple parts. Several actors demonstrate great range, in particular, Kaley Corinaldi as, initially, the naïve youngest sister, Margaret Dashwood, and then as Lucy Steele, a scheming sophisticate and Elinor’s rival for Edward Ferrars’ affections.

Colton Pratt is excellent as two very different suitors: the shy but sincere Edward Ferrars and the romantic but inconstant John Willoughby. Stephen Pearce plays the part of Fanny Dashwood, the evil sister-in-law, with obvious relish in her malice but no hint of parody in the cross-dressing impersonation.

Photo: Isaiah Downing courtesy of the Ent Center for the Arts at UCCS

Parlor games

Scenic designer Nicholaus Renaud decorated the theatre’s walls with wallpaper and wall sconces for candles. It gives the audience a sense of inclusion in the parlors where most of the action takes place. Several tailor’s dummies dressed in Regency fashion remind the audience that society is all about playing dress-up.

When Willoughby gives Marianne the cold shoulder at a ball, her humiliation is dramatized by surrounding her with dancing, taunting tailor’s dummies. Marianne’s near-fatal walk in a storm is excitingly choreographed and the lighting and sound design, by Jennifer Fok and Cece Smith, respectively, made for an even more vivid experience.

The script has been widely praised but it comes close to turning Austen’s novel into a farce. This flattens the characters and leaches much of the meaning from their real dilemmas and the choices they make. We hardly feel Marianne’s heartbreak or the sacrifice that Elinor faces.

Elinor is the durable, longsuffering “correct” heroine who has astutely read most situations and who acts with integrity even when it costs her dearly. Unfortunately, the play foists expository and “moral of the story” speeches on her. As Elinor, Blakely doesn’t quite overcome this, and the character’s hard-won serenity sometimes seems self-consciously proper and a little too close to Dana Carvey’s “Church Lady” character from Saturday Night Live.

As written, the character of Marianne is given to histrionic outbursts and Carla Brown doesn’t inject much nuance into her reactions. At the moment of Marianne’s ultimate heartbreak, Brown’s wails are so overwrought it becomes impossible to take the character or her grief seriously.

This seems to be a directorial choice – one of many signals that this is farce and not in the least serious. This, in turn, is in line with the script’s determination to flit from event to event – to sketch rather than explore.

Whether one considers this approach misconceived, satisfactory, or inspired, there’s no doubt that the Theatreworks production is seamless and fast-paced. It results in an imaginative and entertaining evening. There’s never a dull moment on this stage.