Looking for love in Kentucky Shakespeare’s fast-moving ‘Sense and Sensibility’

And laughs are in full supply.

The masses are atwitter with intrigue and rumor. Just as our culture obsesses on athletics, these people indulge in the sport of gossip. They are a chorus whose chatter funnels disdain and pity and casts shame among characters of Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility.” This is  Kate Hamill’s modern popular adaptation, which Kentucky Shakespeare opened this weekend at Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts’ Bomhard Theater.

The cast of Kentucky Shakespeare’s production of “Sense and Sensibility,” adapted by Kate Hamill. Photo by Brian Owens. Courtesy Kentucky Shakespeare.

From the first moment, tongues are wagging in a barrage of overlapping dialogue about the women of society and their social prospects. Then the story gets off to a bang as a floppy corpse is flung onto a table. 

That doesn’t stop the gossips who turn their talk to news of the death of Mr. Dashwood and the pitiful state it has cast on his widow and three daughters. They are without an inheritance soon to be ousted from the estate where they are living.

But that thud of the corpse reboots this story that is often a period-piece melodrama. It sets a slapstick tone for the rest of the evening and the Kentucky Shakespeare cast, under the direction of Amy Attaway, takes full advantage of the comedy woven into the script. (Attaway also directed Hamill’s adapted version of “Pride and Prejudice” for the company in January 2023.)

This comedy production includes overacting and casting some actors of the ten-member ensemble in two and sometimes three roles. (That casting is included in Hamill’s script.) 

This “Sense and Sensibility” has its feet in two worlds with elements that harken back hundreds of centuries to Georgian Era gossip and others that simultaneously invoke contemporary ideas such as Twitter, now known as X. Like our modern world plentiful in attention seekers, this production heavily gains attention by leaning on comedy to tell a venerable story and gains plenty of laughs and fun. In that way, it’s quite removed from an antiquated England and the subtlety of Austen’s novel. In that story, the focus is on illustrating young women’s lives in a strictly socially stratified world and the pros and cons of their choices driven by sense and restraint compared with another influenced by passion and spontaneity.

Neill Robertson as Fanny and Zachary Burrell as John Dashwood with other cast members in Kentucky Shakespeare’s production of “Sense and Sensibility,” adapted by Kate Hamill. Photo by Brian Owens. Courtesy Kentucky Shakespeare.

Of course, the play does remain true to much of the original story. At the center of the story are the widow, Mrs. Dashwood (Abigail Bailey Maupin), and her three daughters: Elinor (Mollie Murk), the eldest who exhibits sense in her thinking and manner; Marianne (Brittany “BeeBee” Patillo), passionate and lively; and Margaret (Leilani Bracey), the youngest brimming with curiosity.

After the ladies’ fates enter such fragile states, Elinor and Marianne become acquainted with speculative suitors. There is the shy Edward Ferrars (Justin Jackson, who doubles as Robert, Edward’s boorish younger brother), the unscrupulous John Willoughby (Zachary Burrell, who doubles as the sisters’ stingy half-brother John Dashwood), and the stalwart Colonel Brandon (Gregory Maupin). 

At times, a drive for laughs (and there were plenty to be had Sunday afternoon) muddled the clear depiction of relationships among these and the secondary characters, many portrayed by actors playing more than one role. (Who was that again?) That might not prove to be an obstacle for huge fans of the book and author, including those in the Austen Society of Greater Louisville who were in attendance during the Sunday matinee. But it could pose confusion for those coming to the story for the first time or revisiting after decades. 

Then there is a lot of action  — including the characters moving into a new home, plenty of visiting and the like. Elinor meets Edward while at Norland Park, their home that is now the property of her half-brother John and his wife Fanny, played by Neill Robertson, whose hilariously cruel character bares an acid tongue often accompanied by a snarl. While Robertson dives into this role, the characterization reads as a much older woman. This version of Fanny becomes disorienting when she stands with John (Zachary Burrell), her husband. 

At Norland Park, Fanny — aware there is an attraction between Edward and Elinor — discusses expectations for Edward, her brother, with Mrs. Dashwood, hardly concealing insults. This is just one of the final prompts for the family to move to the country cottage on the estate of Sir John Middleton, another role with Robertson who makes a rapid costume change and extreme character transformation to enter as their cheery and affable host.

Mollie Murk as Elinor and Brittany “BeeBee” Patillo as Marianne in Kentucky Shakespeare’s production of “Sense and Sensibility,” adapted by Kate Hamill. Photo by Brian Owens. Courtesy Kentucky Shakespeare.

With all the madcap activity, Elinor (sense) and Marianne (sensibility) remain at this play’s heart, and actors Murk and Patillo bring that centerstage often. There is no confusing the sisters’ dissimilar temperaments nor their deep, mutual love — even when one is annoyed with the other. Murk brings the right amount of restraint and ample measure of warmth to Elinor and at times her repressed anguish rests just below the surface. Murk’s Elinor has rhythms in her reactions and a reliable warmth. Elinor feels like a friend by the second act. The same goes for Patillo’s Marianne, an emotional type always game for fun and a lover of music, literature and romance. Patillo heightens the energy level with the focus like a flame much of her time onstage. 

Robertson as Sir John Middleton and Jennifer Pennington as Mrs. Jennings in Devonshire, where the Dashwoods make their new home, amplify scenes with merriment, cutting through the gravity that all the economic hardship and the stresses of the young women’s search for love. 

Attaway has scenes move swiftly on the set created by designer Eric Algeier with lighting design by Jesse AlFord. Sometimes only a few set pieces change place and the changes in lighting are often subtle, which can make distinguishing between locations difficult. Sometimes when pieces need to move and actors are doing the work, they make hay of the task and incorporate some quick comedic flourishes that complement the scene.

Sound also marks the changing scenes and sound designer Laura Ellis provides unconventional tracks between scenes including those that mimic the gibberish of multiple voices prattling on incoherently to those of recorded voices being played in reverse.

Donna Lawrence-Downs’ costume designs help tell the stories of the characters while reflecting a past era — from Willoughby’s ruffled neckline to the simple greyish color of Elinor’s dress. And, best of all for the actors, they move so easily in them — all the way through to the dance number at the curtain call.

Elizabeth Kramer is on Facebook at Elizabeth Kramer – Arts Writer, on Instagram at @artsbureau and on X @arts_bureau.

“Sense and Sensibility” by Kate Hamill. A production of Kentucky Shakespeare

Through Jan. 14

Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, Bomhard Theater

501 W. Main Street

For more information: kyshakespeare.com