The Wickhams
Romantic Holiday Comedy
Co-written with Margot Melcon
2 acts, 100 minutes
4 f, 3 m
In this delightful companion play to Miss Bennet, Gunderson and Melcon once again bring Austen’s beloved characters to the stage for a yuletide sequel to Pride and Prejudice. While Miss Bennet depicted the newly wed Darcys’ Christmas gathering on the ground floor of Pemberley, The Wickhams takes audiences to the downstairs servants’ quarters for that same celebration. Mrs. Reynolds, a no-nonsense housekeeper; Cassie, an eager new maid; and Brian, a lovesick footman, are bustling with preparations for holiday guests. But their work is interrupted by the midnight arrival of the definitely not invited Mr. Wickham—Lydia’s rogue of a husband and Mr. Darcy’s sworn enemy. The Wickhams is a charming holiday tale that explores the confines of class and the generosity of forgiveness.
“The genius of Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, in exploring Austen’s world, is to explicitly articulate what the books more elliptically imply: For these 19th-century women, beyond…security lay the more fundamental dream of liberty.”
City Pages (Minneapolis, MN)
City Pages (Minneapolis, MN)