Ballarat's Jane Austen fans are getting ready for exciting sold-out performances from this Friday.
The Ballarat National Theatre have been hard at work over a number of weeks rehearsing for Mr Bennet's Bride.
While Craig's Royal Hotel Reading Room is an unusual and intimate space for a play, director Megan J Riedl said the performers were rising to the challenge.
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"There is no dark audience you can hide behind, you will be able to see the back row laughing or not," she said.
The Pride and Prejudice prequel is written by playwright Emma Wood and follows Mr Bennet's story as he navigates societal pressures to find a wife.
The room presented a new challenge for the production team as they are not able to rely on light or detailed set changes to depict different settings.
Riedl said it was a different approach where she really had to rely and focus on the performers.
She said she had been enjoying the rehearsal process and thinks the show is very funny.
"I could not even watch one of the actors in rehearsal the other day, because I was just laughing too hard," Riedl said.
She said she has enjoyed encouraging actors to bring out the physical comedy aspects of the performance.
"The script is good and there are a lot of funny moments written in," Riedl said.
"The playwright Emma Wood has really done so well picking up Austen's style of writing."
Riedl said there were moments where characters said one thing and meant another like in the original novels but had also developed small looks and glances that added to the story.
Each performance had 50 tickets available and all performances are now sold out.
However, after some requests from the BNT community, the opening night will be available to live-stream online so more people can enjoy the performance.
They are also running a fundraising event on Thursday for the Ballarat Arts Foundation where audience members will be able to preview the show followed by a Q&A with some of the creative team.
More details can be found at bnt.org.au/mr-bennet-s-bride
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Nieve Walton
Nieve covers federal and state politics for The Courier focusing on Ballarat, Wendouree, Eureka and Ripon electorates. She also covers Hepburn and Pyrenees shires. As a former dancer and art and theater enthusiast she would love to hear about your latest art exhibition or performance. You can send her an email at nieve.walton@thecourier.com.au
Nieve covers federal and state politics for The Courier focusing on Ballarat, Wendouree, Eureka and Ripon electorates. She also covers Hepburn and Pyrenees shires. As a former dancer and art and theater enthusiast she would love to hear about your latest art exhibition or performance. You can send her an email at nieve.walton@thecourier.com.au
