Bloomshed | Review by Grace Cassidy
Bloomshed’s off-beat Pride and Prejudice is ridiculously funny
3 December 2025
You know it’s going to be an interesting show when you find yourself sitting and wondering, “Are those actors standing on.. a giant cake?”
Bloomshed’s 2025 production of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is decidedly un-Austen-like, though it carries the distinct fingerprints of creatives who know the story well. Instead of the familiar parade of sitting rooms, 1810s fashion and witty but restrained dialogue, Bloomshed explodes onto the stage with colourful dresses, absurd set pieces and historically accurate dialogue such as: “It’s a priest! Get the gun!” and “Oh that poor hot man!” The result is an ensuing show that feels a bit like the unholy offspring of a Jane Austen novel and a ‘90s Tim Burton film — filled with all the plot of the former and the zany social commentary of the latter, with an added dash of the off-beat sense of humour in Taika Waititi’s What We Do In the Shadows.
Directed by James Jackson, this 2025 production discards one of the major trappings of many Austen adaptations — stagnant set pieces. Rather than confining the cast to a drawing room and having them sit around a table chatting for twenty minutes, the action instead unfolds around a single giant set piece: a wedding cake. This keeps the actors on their feet and challenges the story to make the best use of the space. At the same time, it has audience members scratching their heads in search of the metaphor. Is it a comment on the imposition of marriage? An allegory for romantic comedies being comfort food? A reference to ‘let them eat cake?’ …should we get cake after the show?
Likewise, the play is itself packed with important questions, like: does Mr Bennet, our protagonist’s well-meaning if ultimately unhelpful father, impact the plot, or could we get away with replacing him with a pot plant? Should Mary Bennet be nestled in a corner with a frown and a lap full of sheet music, or should she be a goth lesbian with a firearm? How tall can a gentleman’s hat be before it becomes ridiculous? And, because Bloomshed’s bread and butter is political satire, it asks if Pride and Prejudice is still a love story for the ages. Austen’s famous romance is generally considered the original romantic comedy and like many romances, it sells audiences on the fairytale of marrying into wealth. But in an era where billionaires have turned oligarchs, wealth gaps are widening and generations are facing a future where they cannot afford to buy a home, Bloomshed asks, is marrying into wealth still considered an ethical idea?
Elizabeth Bennet (a witty, nonconformist Elizabeth Brennan) certainly doesn’t think so. Mr Darcy (James Jackson) embodies everything she hates about the world. He’s posh, stuck up; he has wealth he didn’t earn and the manners of a frying pan; and worst of all, he’s a landlord! That last thing, we all know, is the very gravest of sins.
With this venture, Bloomshed sets itself apart as a company that takes risks — not all of them pay off. A rare moment of missed comedic timing arrives during a tea party at the infamous Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s. Characters stand around in awkward silence and as the cause of their awkward silence isn’t quite clear, the scene flounders and drags on a bit longer than necessary. But other than that, most of the risks do pay off, resulting in a quirky and delightfully avant-garde show that has a wickedly fun time pushing the boundaries of what theatrical adaptations are capable of. This wonderful, wacky production features my all-time favourite depiction of Mary Bennet (Lauren Swain) as an Edgar Allen Poe-coded, gun-toting lesbian, as well as a Mr Wickham for the 21st Century (also played by Swain) — a cocksure Lothario who lures young women by looking very ‘deep’ and worldly with the aid of a book in his hand and a touted hypothetical respect for women.
Packed with political satire, eccentric characters and madcap dialogue, this Austen adaptation is one for the books.
Grace Cassidy is a writer and aspiring actress. Over the past two years, she has fallen in love with Canberra’s theatre scene by participating in theatre workshops, acting in local short films and getting involved in the Canberra Youth Theatre’s Emerging Artist programs. Grace is passionate about storytelling and has a soft spot for theatre that explores complex family relationships, ride or die friendships, and themes of hope.
