Can an historic work of fiction be truly enjoyed – when it perhaps fails to shine a light on the now-shameful behaviours of the past?
This is the question at the heart of The Watermill Theatre’s production of “Mansfield Park”, adapted from the novel of the same name by Jane Austen and produced in partnership with Two Gents.
The novel (and approximately half of this production) tells the story of Fanny Price, who moves into the titular estate belonging to her wealthy uncle Sir Thomas Bertram and his (largely unpleasant) family. Typically Austen-esque romantic misunderstandings abound with her cousin Edmund and wealthy socialite Henry Crawford.
But the novel has long come under fire for failing to critique the source of Mansfield Park’s wealth – namely a slave plantation in Antigua – and for portraying its owner, Thomas Bertram, in a positive light. While the characters deal with romantic mishaps, their day-to-day existence is built upon on the blood, sweat and tears of slaves – yet this is hardly mentioned.
This production resolves that tension by splitting its focus between the story itself, and that of Mary Prince – the first black women to publish an autobiography detailing her experiences as a slave. The contemporaneous Prince would’ve experienced the harsh realities of slavery hidden behind the pages of Austen’s book, and the juxtaposition of her story with that of the novel’s characters is brutal and enlightening.
You will have a taste by now as to whether this production is for you. This is certainly a “woke” take on Mansfield Park, and you may automatically shy away from that, particularly if you have an aversion to polemics.
However, it is also many things that many productions nowadays simply are not – bold; angry; relevant; thought provoking. These are qualities that transport an audience from being passive observers to feeling involved and stirred.
And I would argue that those who love Austen’s works, or period dramas in general, are perhaps the best audience for this – Stephen Fry once said that the finest works of art allow you to see a familiar thing in an entirely new way, and this production does that fantastically.
It is also very funny and very creative – a small cast of five bring both stories to life, using a minimal amount of props and costumes to multi-role. All the actors and actresses are brilliant, flipping from serious to sensuous to silly in the blink of an eye, but the stand-out performance is from Anni Domingo whose portrayal of Mary Prince is simply incandescent.
One of the rare treats of theatre (and it truly is rare) is that moment when you shiver to see a naked display of emotion happening in front of you, because you simply cannot tell whether the actor who’s crying mere feet from where you’re sitting is genuinely upset. Domingo’s performance delivers moments like this on multiple occasions.
Fantastically acted and directed, “Mansfield Park” is running at The Watermill Theatre until the 8th July; tickets can be booked at https://www.watermill.org.uk.
