←Recommendations of Mr Bennet's Bride

Mr Bennett’s Bride is a laugh out loud prequel to Pride and Prejudice. The characters are well written and the plot is well constructed. There are numerous possibilities for actors to flesh out comedic moments and a couple of heartwarming moments add a nice depth.
Theater looking for audience draw would do well to consider Mr Bennett’s Bride. Jane Austin fans will be enticed, and other audience members will likely enjoy the show so much they will recommend it to friends.
Highly recommend!

"Mr Bennet's Bride" provides the much-needed backstory to one of the central mysteries of Jane Austen's most dearly loved novel, "Pride and Prejudice" -- just how is it that the scholarly, sarcastic, and probably introverted Mr Bennet married the loud, extroverted woman who seems to daily plague him with worldly matters? Bravo to this witty, well-written drama that rounds out characters we think we know so well.

"Mr Bennet's Bride" is a hilarious, tightly written comedy that adds to the world of "Pride and Prejudice" with sincere, sharply written characters. It is great fun to read, from the opening reveal to the final snapshots, and I hope to watch it in the near future, knowing how much opportunity there would be for side-splitting physical comedy to be added! Not just for fans of the novel or films, this is an ensemble piece with something for everyone, both those on stage and in the audience.

I have always been a fan of reimaginings of classic characters and "Mr Bennet's Bride" is a fabulous example. Emma has provided a wonderful tale of humour emotion and the exploration of complex character relationships. This play offers something to all kinds of audiences, from those who love classic Austen to those who love a play loaded with fresh perspective! It's a play that offers a cast of various ages and gives performance a wonderful chance to play some enchanting characters.

Pure delight! If you stumbled across a bound copy of this play, you would swear it was a 19th century gem. In reality it is a 21st century gem from Emma Wood filled with the wit and manners that make it an excellent prequel to “Pride and Prejudice.” And like that earlier work, I can see MR. BENNET’S BRIDE becoming a classic of on its own. This would be a treat to see on stage or even adapted for film.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this play. It is interesting, well-written, and true to what one can imagine as the true prequel to Jane Austin’s “Pride and Prejudice”. There is so much to love about this play. I most especially loved the arc of the relationship between father and son, with the most endearing confession and unexpected emotion of Mr. Bennett as he discloses his thoughts and feelings to his son about the time of his son’s birth and wife’s death. This is a marvelous play! Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

I love prequels and sequels and reinterpretations of classic literature, and this play is no exception. Emma Wood crafts a witty and delightful prequel that would make Jane Austen and fellow Jane-ites proud. Following the courtship of James and Emily Bennett and glimpsing why the couple turns out the way they do is fun and a story I would love to see on it's feet!

This delightful origin story telling how the Bennets of "Pride and Prejudice" became a couple has Austenian wit to spare, and yet enough of playwright Emma Wood's own voice to become a work all its own. Wood gives the play an edge both period and contemporary; an initial sense of joy turning into fear is shared by our protagonist, the young James Bennet, and the audience, as we know the future he begins to see so clearly as the curtain falls. Deft and touching, MR. BENNET'S BRIDE is a terrific bit of theatre that deserves a long life onstage.

Mr. Bennet’s Bride is a worthy prequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice—a fun yet ultimately heartbreaking origin story for one of the more ill-advised marriages in the literary canon: James and Emily Bennet. Wood captures the language of the time with perfect pitch, and like Jane Austen, finds the humor in the heightened manners. Her characters have a depth and complexity that makes them real and human. You root for them, and you mourn for James, whose own apathy makes his ultimate unhappiness inevitable.