By Karin Wiberg, with Sara Tavela (Streaming Content Insights)
On Sunday, December 4, 2022, about fifteen JASNA members met at PlayMakers Repertory at UNC in Chapel Hill for a performance of Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Emma.
Hamill’s adaptations have become familiar to Janeites, as she’s has adapted not only Emma but also Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park thus far. In fact, JASNA-NC members attended a performance of Pride and Prejudice at Raleigh Little Theatre (RLT) in October 2022, and comparison may be unavoidable due to the recency.
Casting
The cast was strong across the board, with Emma herself being most excellent. As with all of the Hamill adaptations, many of the actors were cast in multiple roles. For instance, in this version, Mr. Weston and Mr. Woodhouse were played by the same actor, as were Robert Martin and Frank Churchill, Mr. Elton and Mrs. Bates, and several roles with servants and “random ladies.” Personally, I like this kind of dual casting, though I felt RLT perhaps had more fun with it.
Costuming
The costumes had a clear aesthetic, often anachronistic but intentionally so. If you ever have a chance to visit the costume shop at Playmakers (which JASNA-NC did several years ago when S&S was on stage), do. It’s quite impressive, both in the costumes in storage and in the design and sewing capabilities.
Harriet Smith’s costumes especially struck me, and reminded me of the recent Autumn de Wilde film, which paid so much attention to costuming and style. There was a clear progression of Harriet’s dress along with her personality, from plain and simple and nervous at the beginning of the show to a mimicking of Emma’s style and personality later in the show.
Emma’s style was typically chic and alluded to Madonna in her Material Girl era, complete with a massive bow at one gathering and shimmering fabric at others. Emma’s costumes were as bombastic as her character: you know she is the main character and that she is “handsome, clever, and rich.”
Script
Overall, Hamill’s script was solid and entertaining, with a few notable points.
Emma regularly broke the fourth wall and spoke directly to the audience, which not only mimicked Austen’s free indirect style, but also got some of the biggest laughs of the show.
As is common with stage and film adaptations, certain characters are dropped, combined, or modernized. In this case, we lost Emma’s sister and Knightley’s brother, who are married in the novel, and along with them that uncomfortable near-incestuousness of Emma and Knightley’s eventual relationship. Additionally, Emma and Knightley’s ages were brought into the modern comfort zone of only five years apart rather than the sixteen in the book.
While the tweaks to Emma and Knightley were something of a relief to me, I felt we lost something of the difference in the two characters’ relative maturity levels. The two were made to have grown up together, often fighting like siblings do. And, though my memory of the Box Hill scene is fuzzy, I did not feel the critical reproach from Knightley that is a turning point in Emma’s personal growth. It was sort of there, but to me the impact was lacking.
Hamill made an interesting choice in her treatment of Emma and Frank Churchill’s relationship. Right off the bat they basically have nothing to say to each other. Unlike the witty banter we are used to from many of the films, in this interpretation they fumble in awkwardness from the start as though they are on a bad first date. It’s amusing, but again there is no room for Emma to grow in the realization that Frank is not the good fit for her that she originally thought he was.
At the end of the show, Mrs. Weston (the prior Miss Taylor) receives a role much-enhanced from the novel. She effectively forces Emma and Knightley together to talk and reconcile. She also explains away Emma’s meddlesome nature as being a result of educated young women not having enough to do in the society of the time, limited in the number of serious pastimes available to them. While I may not necessarily disagree, I’m not entirely sure I agree either. And certainly the explanatory bluntness of it felt entirely out of character for our dear subtle Jane and left me with a bit of a wrinkle in my brow.
For a story that I view as being greatly about maturity and growth, these changes felt like they somehow let Emma off the hook a little too easily. But, perhaps I need a second viewing to appreciate Hamill’s points.
Streaming
The streaming experience for our members unable to attend in person was a good one. Not only were the tickets affordable and access to the recording easy to navigate, the quality was quite good. While the sound could have used a bit more adjusting in the editing process, as certain characters were more audible than others, the tech crew did a strong job of capturing the action on stage and characters’ expressions.
The humor was palpable, with standout moments (for this Millennial) including Mr. Elton’s horridly funny karaoke performance to ‘woo’ Emma, Mrs. Bates’ appearances (also played by the same actor as Mr. Elton), and Emma’s naïve observations that gave the ‘nudge-nudge’ to audience members in the Austen-know (those who were familiar with the novel).
The feminism of Hamill’s adaptation was as strong in Emma as in her other adaptations of Austen’s work, which offered moments to pause for thought and possible re-evaluation of Emma’s character. This author (Sara Tavela) found this a useful lens and nuance for this production, though Emma’s elitism and matchmaking was give too pat an excuse, perhaps. I did not quite buy that Emma’s boredom and constriction as a woman in the patriarchy was enough to make up for her character defects (e.g., her snobbery).
Playmakers provided a charming and thought-provoking performance, well-balanced with comedy and pop culture references. The show was a delight, and it was a wonderful way to spend a December evening.
Overall
Based on comments shared at the event and via email after the show, the consensus seems to be that the Playmakers show was stronger than the RLT show. But, as we all know, you can never have enough Jane, so keep bringing on the stage productions!