Jermyn Street Theatre – until 22nd June 2024
Reviewed by Celia Armand Smith
4****
On the eve of his 60th birthday, Pride and Prejudice’s favourite villain Mr George Wickham returns to reminisce about his life. Written and performed by Adrian Lukis who played Wickham in the 1995 BBC adaptation, he ponders on the years since he famously eloped with Lydia Bennett.
In this production directed by Guy Unsworth, we discover that rather surprisingly Wickham is still married to Lydia, and she is just off stage in a huff because he was paying too much attention to a female guest at his birthday party. Classic old Wickham. Lukis gives a charming performance, however under the wit and rakishness is the same wickedness displayed years earlier in the original Pride and Prejudice text. I am unsure whether this is an attempt to rewrite Wickham as a misunderstood man who’d had a rotten life, but it’s hard to overlook his scheming and manipulative ways. There are stories of lost love with a maid, a cliff top run in with the horrible headmaster of his boarding school, and how he ended up in the militia. It is an expert display of charm, still being used to win over the crowds.
There are lots of familiar names, and some history around his rocky relationship with Mr Darcy. We also learn that he held Byron in high esteem (of course he did), and he had little to no work ethic. As he takes us through his life he moves around the small corner of a drawing room designed by Libby Watson, filling his glass from a decanter, and repeatedly going to to the window to check on the scandal that is emerging in the house opposite. He’s not so much at the centre of the scandal anymore, but he still very much thrives on it.
In this one hour long monologue, we don’t learn much about Wickham, however the Lukis’ writing and thoroughly engaging performance make for a very pleasant evening indeed.