Mr Darcy Loses the Plot 2016
Jane Austen is dreaming up Darcy, a proud, lip curling, handsome creation in very tight pants. But then a door squeaks, a visitor approaches and Jane hastily hides her writing. Mr Darcy is left dangling. Left to his own devices he embroiders his own storyline while his creator stitches her quilt. When Jane returns she finds Darcy is diving into a lake in a clinging white shirt, dancing the Berserka (a more extreme sports version of the Mazurka) and wrestling carp.
An absolute joy from start to finish
North West End
Scatty, warm, auditorium enveloping stage personalities
Manchester Theatre Awards
On leaving the venue you feel a hundred times more invigorated than when you went in, with the chuckle muscles positively aching at the glorious lunacy
Yorkshire Post
We thought it was time for another period drama. We hadn’t done a “crinoline” show in a while. Jane Austen’s house down in Hampshire invited us to do something with them, so we went down to have a look. We were struck by the beautiful quilt Jane had made with her sister Cassandra, so we made a quilted set, with individual panels representing different female authors. Members of the public designed and stitched these together and the result is beautiful and forms part of the Funny Stuff exhibition.
Fun Fact
At the time of creating Mr Darcy there was a new £10 notes issued featuring Jane Austen. Who remembers cash? Anyone?
Stand Out Prop:
The Bennet girls in bed with their new shoes
Here’s some reaction from the critics
Mobile screens are moved across the stage and provide not only clever scene and character changes but also back drops for brilliant moments where characters jump in and out of the live action and film. Each moment is choreographed by Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding with precision: the pace just leisurely enough to make it feel improvised and intimate. Ipswich Daily Star
Jane is juggling balls and Mr Darcy, and has only just sketched in Mr Bingham (Sue with a cut out life size paper drawing of a man pinned to her front) when she gets called away, leaving Darcy to wander off into Daphne du Maurier territory and take up with a particularly mousey Rebecca, at which point matters become very silly indeed and produce some of the biggest laughs of the evening. While we’re still in Austenland, there’s a trademark film sequence with the duo mixing on-screen action with the live stuff on stage, several clever bits of interactive scenery and a warning to watch out for a violent bazurka, the latter like a mazurka but much more violent. Manchester Theatre Awards
this patchwork had its audience in stitches and its slapstick quality perfectly disguised the searing wit and intelligence of the writing Northern Echo
I love LipService. I have now seen virtually all their wonderful literary spoofs and this comic duo are incomparable. Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding have turned their clever, witty gaze on Jane Austen’s most famous work but their interpretation had us all rocking with laughter. The skill of this production is the amazing impeccable timing, the droll use of puppets, video clips and a whole series of fast moving backdrops many featuring some splendid quilting.
Clitheroe Advertiser
The talented use of puppetry, farce and comedic timing kept a busy first night house thoroughly entertained throughout. Canal Street Online