“Mansfield Park”

Highly Recommended **** As always, upon entering the Northlight Theatre at The North Shore  Center for the Performing Arts, I am wowed by what they do with their sets. Being an open stage with no curtain, must make it a bit more difficult for the director and designer, but somehow, they continue to amaze me. The current production, a new adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, “Mansfield Park” written by Kate Hamill. This is a story that goes deep into the hearts and souls of the wealthy versus the poor. “Mansfield Park” is an estate of extreme wealth and therefore importance. What must one give up to forge ahead in life. This is difficult for men, but, for a woman, next to impossible.

In this production, we first meet Fanny Price ( a powerful portrayal by Kayla Carter) who has been delivered to the wealthy Bertram family on their estate, Mansfield Park. Is she a slave? Is she a servant? Is she a part of this family? These are questions that we will see answers to as the story unfolds. Fanny comes from a very poor family, and is brought to the estate of her aunt and uncle, who she knows very little about. They will teach her and give her a better life. In return she will do their bidding and never say NO!

As we meet all the family members, and as Fanny learns more about each, she begins to see that wealth and status are not always what they seem to be. Her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram ( Mark Montgomery, who also plays her father is powerful) is a loud businessman who demands what he demands, when he demands it and not one member of the family will ever say no to him. Her cousins -Mariah ( the lovely Anu Bhatt, who also gives a sterling performance as Susan Price, Fanny’s little sister), Edmund (another outstanding performance by Gabriel Ruiz) who Fanny learns from and then falls in love with and Tom ( Curtis Edward Jackson who is far stronger in the other roles that he plays, in particular, Mariah’s  betrothed, Mr. Rushworth) a lout and drunkard, tend to look down on her as she is from “the other side”. Her aunt, Lady Bertram ( deftly handled by Playwright  Hamill with two other roles- she is something else!).

The story revolves around young wealthy people, bored on a day -to- day basis, who play and drink. Henry Crawford ( a charmer played with great style by Nate Burger) and his sister Mary ( played to perfection by Hamill) come to visit at the invitation of Mariah’ suitor, Mr. Rushworth, and immediately both fall in love, he with Fannie and her with Edmund. The ups and downs of their romantic endeavors brings some classic humor to the story. It can get confusing at times, so I suggest you not doze off during this one. The other characters of note in this story are Mrs. Norris , who is the housekeeper of the estate and Mrs. Price, Fannie’s mother, both played by the always reliable Heidi Kettenring. We do learn during the unfolding of facts that the Bertram family lives off the labor of slaves, but it is only touched on. This story is more about love and conscience. It is about getting one’s “just rewards” and I applaud Ms Hamill for taking on the challenge of bringing Ms Austen’s works to the modern audience. In the end, the poor Fannie shows that it is heart and soul ,rather than money ,that makes life a better place.

Smoothly directed by Stuart Carden, I found that he is more like a choreographer than a director. Even the change of scenes, with actors moving set pieces in and out is a masterpiece of work. It certainly works for a production like this. The tech aspects of the production are flawless with amazing costumes(Izumi Inaba), the set itself (Yu Shibagaki), lighting (Christine A. Binder) and sound/original music( Andrew Hansen) and props (Jared Davis). Since there is some movement in the production, well, dancing, they do have what they call a Movement Director (Steph Paul) who did a marvelous job. This cast moves fluidly on the small stage.

“Mansfield Park” will continue at Northlight Theatre located at 9501 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie ( just south of Old Orchard Center) thru December 16th with performances as follows:

Wednesdays  1 p.m. ( except 12/5) and 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays  7″30 p.m.

Fridays  8 p.m.

Saturdays  2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Sundays  2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. ( 11/25)

Tickets range from $30-$88

students at $15 subject to availability

call 847-673-6300 or www.northlight.org

Plenty of free parking available. Public transportation works as well

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Mansfield Park”.