Laredo Theater Guild International kicked off the start of its 17th season with an opening performance of Kate Hamill’s Sense & Sensibility, based on the novel by Jane Austen. The story of the Dashwood sisters is one familiar to many a literary, and Austen, enthusiast.
As is known, a novel-to-stage adaptation is no easy feat, but during the show’s run time, any quirks in the transfer only further execute the humor that was written into the script. From the galloping actors meant to mimic horse-drawn carriages to the lingering gossips turning into Mrs. Jenning’s playful pups, the unexpected twists and physical comedy in the play were one of the most consistent shining areas throughout the viewing experience.
Further, the use of doubling throughout the performance, particularly through the characters of Fanny Dashwood/Lucy Steele (Desiree Perez), pushed the comedic elements into a tongue-in-cheek irony, poking fun at the absurdity of the gossipmongering mentality that drives the characters throughout the plot. This stage technique functions as a means to engage the viewer, making them both the participant in the residual entertainment of the gossip being spread while also allowing the audience to self-aware enough to question whether the gossip they are being entertained by is more harmful or helpful to the Dashwood sisters they have eagerly grown to empathize with. After all, it isn’t hard to relate to Elinor and Marianne, expertly interpreted by Katelyn Kahn and Allyson Tellez. From Marianne’s youthful romanticism to Elinor’s more subdued affections, the yearning for love that we mistakenly assume is, or is not, reciprocated, is something most, if not all, audience members have experienced at some point in their lives.
The heartbreak that befalls Marianne at the hands of the playboy John Willoughby (Ben Lule), and the mixed feelings Elinor receives from the confused and indirect Edward (Emiliano Reyna), are enough to elicit similar pangs of hurt drawn from our own romantic endeavors. Thus, it is no surprise that the TAMIU Fine & Performing Arts auditorium erupted with applause and joyful holleration upon the sisters’ joint nuptials to their respective suitors as the performance concluded.
Yet, despite Sense & Sensibility being a love story in the romantic sense of the phrase, there is a greater love at play between Elinor and Marianne. Although overshadowed by the element of romantic partnership, the love shared between the two Dashwood sisters is what truly solidifies the foundation of this story. Regardless of the ups and downs, the secrets and partial truths, the misunderstandings, the sisters’ love for one another remains a constant, underlying the entirety of the plot. This love is the driving force that enables both Elinor and Marianne to love each other, to love themselves, and to share that love with Edward and Colonel Brandon (Ben Hinojosa). Ultimately, between the laughs and the tears elicited by the LTGI cast and crew, the audience was given a story about a love that need not be spoken out loud, simply because it is a love that has always been known. What kind could be better?
(Xiomarra Milann is multidisciplinary artist, activist, and educator whose roots lay in Laredo, TX. She is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Texas-El Paso. Her work can be found in the Sybil Journal, the Acentos review, among other places, and is forthcoming in Defunkt Magazine.)
