As the lights slowly dimmed, the audience was engrossed in the elegance and wit of 18th-century England, promising a top-notch performance of drama and comedy. Theatre Ink’s charming production of Sense and Sensibility, directed by Annmarie Benedict, graced the stage Oct. 30–Nov. 1 in the Lasker Auditorium.
With their own touch of humor and whimsy, the Theater Ink cast brought to life the story of Sense and Sensibility, all the while honoring the original storyline. Even with the discouraging challenges that the characters faced, the cast was able to portray character development in a way that couldn’t help but get the audience to root for them.
Sense and Sensibility follows the lives of the Dashwood sisters as they navigate life after their father’s death, forcing them to move out of their house and start anew. Over the course of the play, Elinor, the more sensible of the sisters, and Marianne, the more sensitive of the sisters, undergo the troubles of love, family, and a status-stricken society.
To prepare for their roles, many cast members employed various techniques to step into the mindset of their character and provide an authentic experience for audience members. Freshman Talia Goodwin, who plays the youthful character of Margaret Dashwood, watched Anne with an E numerous times to channel the spirited and talkative nature of Anne, similar to Margaret in the play. By using such techniques, Goodwin was able to effectively bring comedic relief to the play and complement the heavier topics of heartbreak and love. Likewise, other cast members set aside time to thoroughly understand their characters’ profound motives and feelings.
Senior Julia Bartow-Fuchs, who played Marianne in the play, said, “When I’m approaching a character, I really like to find how we are similar and different so that I can also empathize with them. So they can be someone I become, rather than just playing them as myself.”
Leading up to their performance, the cast and everyone behind the scenes of the production committed to hours of rehearsals every day to perfect their performance by opening night. While the process took time and dedication, the result was worth their hard work.
“In reality, the long and demanding rehearsal hours weren’t so bad, because seeing everyone’s characters develop and come to life at the end was so rewarding,” said Goodwin.
In the end, their commitment to their character paid off, amazing the crowd with an engrossing experience.
As the show began, cast members gave an intro monologue while passing through the aisles of the audience, setting the scene for the girls’ story. The cast’s additions of Regency era costumes that thoughtfully illustrated the attire of the time and dramatic lighting to set the mood, gave the audience a rollercoaster of a performance that even cast members felt great joy in presenting.
“I loved being face-to-face each night with the audience that was hearing our story. I’m so fortunate this show was my introduction to high school theatre,” said Goodwin.
Throughout the play, members put on a performance that invoked laughter and smiles, leading up to the final scene where the two sisters get married after personal struggles with love. Despite their struggles, the sisters stuck together until the end, eventually reaching their well-deserved, full-circle moment.
“They ended up getting there, their happy ending in the end. It’s really nice that they were able to find their happy ending, in spite of everything that happened,” said physics teacher Kim Mayer, an audience member.
“If people came to the show and forgot about their problems for two hours and we made them laugh, that was our goal—to give people a little more joy,” said Bartow-Fuchs.
Through a captivating performance that brought the audience a modern take on a classic, the cast did just that: give the crowd a sense of joy through excellent acting and on-stage details.
