Little Lake Theatre's 'Emma' is No Plain Jane

There are hundreds of iterations of Jane Austen’s “Emma,” including the 90s homage “Clueless” with Alicia Silverstone. Every version has the clueless (pun intended) heroine, Emma, meddling into everyone else’s love life and ignoring her own heart. Austen wrote the original romantic comedy.

At the Little Lake Theatre, the Austen adaptation, by Michael Bloom, Emma Woodhouse (Jenny Malarkey) manages to make a familiar mess of things. When Emma’s governess, (Juliette Mariani) gets married to Mr. Weston (Jesse Warnick), she claims it was a by-product of her scheming. She becomes a self-appointed matchmaker. As a member of the English gentry, Emma spends her idle time (and there’s a lot of it) contemplating matters of the heart.

Her first victim is plain Harriet Smith (Natalie Kindler). Emma nabs Philip Elton (hilariously played by Peter Rosati) to be Harriet’s match. When her best laid plans go awry, she picks herself up, dusts herself off and goes plummeting into more trouble.

All the while oblivious to the intentions of George Knightley (a pitch-perfect Nick Murosky). Emma falls into one predicament after another like an early 19th-century Lucy Ricardo. She misreads Elton’s advances, she misinterprets Frank Churchill’s (Troy Bruchwalski) playful repartee, and she is oblivious to every move Knightley makes.

Though it seems rambling, the plot steadily chugs along toward the ultimate resolution.The book was published in 1815. Do I have to declare a "spoiler alert?" Here goes: There's a happy ending for everyone!

One of the flaws of both the book and the play must be mentioned: The secret affair between Jane Fairfax (Ariel Leasure) and Frank Churchill never resonates.  Director Jena Oberg tries her best to resolve the storyline, but the play could have used a few more furtive glances and awkward pauses between the two characters. 

Oberg had her work cut out for her. The play, with a cast of 12 speaking roles, never seemed crowded, even on the small theater-in-the-round stage.

There are many talented actors in the production.

Debra Humphrey plays Miss Bates as a delightful bore. Humphrey makes the eccentric old woman very sympathetic. The audience leapt to her defense at Friday night's performance, practically booing Emma when she excoriates the old maid at a picnic.

Ariel Leasure stood out in a reduced role of Jane Fairfax (other adaptations of "Emma" have a meatier role for Miss Bates' beloved niece).

Dave James plays the contrarian codger Mr. Henry Woodhouse, Emma’s dear father. 

The audience practically laughed every time he uttered a word, mostly complaining about the damp weather (a subject near and dear to the hearts of most Yinzers). Looking back, Austen is a bit of an ageist, the elderly are almost all portrayed as idiots. Hilariously, though.

Moving over to some of the younger cast members, Troy Bruchwalski is terrific as the smug Frank Churchill. The performance is a far cry from the harried and innocent gas station attendant, Harlon, in “” earlier in the Little Lake season.

Jena Oberg uses sense and sensibility to direct Jane Austen’s “Emma,” getting some nuanced performances out of her talented group of actors. Even though it’s a truncated account of the events in the book, like Jane Fairfax’s flawless piano playing (off-stage in this version), hits all the right notes.

Next up at Little Lake Theatre is “Five Course Love,” a musical with three actors playing 15 different characters. Get your tickets now. It’ll be here faster than you can say, “der Schlupfwinkel Speisaplatz!”

For ticket information, visit here. "Five Course Love" shows Sept. 8-10, 15-17 and 22-24.