The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Department of Theatre and Dance presented their first performances of “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” on Dec. 5 and 6. Their remaining performances are Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2:00 p.m. in Toland Theatre in Truman Lowe Center for the Arts.
“The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” uses the same characters from Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice and serves as a sequel to author’s Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s 2016 play “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley.” Set two years after the events of Pride and Prejudice, “The Wickhams” sees drama ensue as Mr. Wickham arrives uninvited at Pemberley.
“It actually focuses on the servants of the house, who are not characters you’ve seen in Pride and Prejudice,” said Mary Trotter, the show’s director. “It’s kind of their journey and finding…ownership and their paths in life.”
Trotter was searching for a holiday-themed play when she came across “The Wickhams” on her shelf and realized it was written by Gunderson and Melcon, the former being one of her favorite playwrights.
“I really liked the strong female characters in it, in a time period where we don’t usually get to see that,” explained Trotter. “It shows how in 2024…the holidays…and dealing with family dynamics can be stressful, and it was the same in 1815.”
Trotter described “The Wickhams” as being a good show to put on right now because it’s a lighthearted and heartwarming story that fits nicely with the holiday season. However, she also noted the play separates itself from other stories by tapping into social commentary about class and privilege.
“One of the things [The Wickhams] talks about is Darcy and the [Mr. Wickham] character. Wickham grew up in Pemberley, but as a child of the servants,” said Trotter. “While those two grew up at Pemberley, and both were in essence raised by Mrs. Reynolds, the housekeeper, they have very different lives.”
Trotter continued. “[The Wickhams] talks about ‘What is success?’ and depending on the privilege you have, how accessible is it,” explained Trotter. “I think this definitely parallels with today…there’s this idea that we can just pull ourselves up with our bootstraps, but if we don’t have bootstraps, how are we supposed to pull ourselves up?”
The play that comes before “The Wickhams” in the series, the before mentioned “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” is currently being shown at Commonweal Theatre in Lanesboro, Minnesota. “Miss Bennet” happens at the same time as “The Wickhams,” only upstairs, while “The Wickhams” is downstairs.
Trotter, the cast, the stage management crew, and some of the designers were able to go to the show in Lanesboro, which Trotter said proved to be quite beneficial.
“It opened [the students’] minds to what was happening offstage, and also to see these characters played by other actors and how they interpret the time period…it’s not Pride and Prejudice; things have happened, the characters have…changed a little bit,” said Trotter.
Caroline Thompson, third-year psychology and musical theatre student, portrayed Elizabeth Darcy in “The Wickhams,” and found similar importance in being able to view the preceding play.
“It’s rare to be able to see what’s going on in the other scenes that you’re not seeing during the show…it was really great to see how different actors interpreted the characters, the different mannerisms they built, the different psychological gestures,” said Thompson.
An aspect of preparing for “The Wickhams” that both Trotter and Thompson mentioned was learning the right dialect for the characters. Thompson explained that while many people may pretend to do their own British accent, learning the correct way to speak like the characters in the play would’ve spoke at the time came with a learning curve.
“There’s a lot of things that you wouldn’t necessarily think of; some of the vowels are pronounced differently, there’s something called tapping the ‘r’s,’” said Thompson. “Dr. Nic [Barilar] worked with us on dialect…It was a really cool experience…[seeing] people’s accents and their voices develop along with the show.”
In addition to the dialect, Thompson also cited getting into the physicality of her character as something she had to get used to.
“I read the book Pride and Prejudice, and my first take of the character [Elizabeth] was that she was more closed off,” said Thompson. “The more I worked with [Trotter], she encouraged me to open up and adopt this openness that echoed [Elizabeth’s] character.”
A core message Thompson took away from the show is that supporting loved ones doesn’t always take the same form and finding family doesn’t mean the same thing. To Thompson, sometimes, somebody needs things in a different way than you might think.
“Brian assumes at the beginning that Cassie wants someone to take care of her. That’s completely wrong,” said Thompson. “The way he remedies that is by listening to her, and so there’s a shift in how he behaves in that relationship.”
“Love comes in different forms,” said Thompson. “You need to love someone by their standards, not by yours.”
If you attend:
Who: UW-La Crosse Department of Theatre and Dance
What: “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon
Where: Toland Theatre, Lowe Center for the Arts (333 N. 16th Street, La Crosse). Assigned seating.
When: December 7 at 7:30 p.m. and matinees on December 7-8 at 2:00 p.m.
Online Tickets: $20 adults; $18 senior citizens/non UWL students/military; $8 UWL students. Online tickets will have a small credit card processing fee added at checkout. Patrons are encouraged to buy their tickets online and download the tickets to their phone/email. Tickets may be purchased online at www.uwlax.edu/theatre-and-dance beginning October 1, 2024. Assigned seating.
In person/phone tickets: $22 for adults, $20 for senior/non UWL students and $10 for UWL students (processing/printing fee already included in the price); call (608) 785-6696. Box office opens December 2 for in person/phone ticket sales. Box office hours are Monday through Friday 1:00-3:00 p.m. and one hour prior to each performance. Assigned seating.
Parking: Due to the construction near the Lowe Center for the Arts, patrons are encouraged to arrive early and park in the university parking ramp located on the corner of Farwell & 17th Streets. Parking in the ramp is free after 7:00 p.m. and on the weekends. For those with mobility issues, there is a drop-off site next to the Lowe Center for the Arts on the corner of 15th and Vine Streets.
