Historic Community Theatre in Wayland, MA

Jane Austen never dramatized her own books, but fortunately others have. In Kate Hamill’s modern, rewarding adaptation of the novel Sense & Sensibility, we get to see all of the Dashwood family’s trials, starting when the family patriarch dies, placing the fortunes of the matriarch and her daughters in doubt. We are in Georgian England, when men held the purse strings and ultimately the power. In telling the story from the perspective of the women in the family, Austen shifts from the male viewpoint, showing that through personal integrity, and with the love and support of family and community, women were able to persevere and prosper. And even though the feminism in Austen’s story might be veiled, the earnestness of the love stories and the circumstances that the Dashwoods endure should convince any romantic soul that strength of character and true love can conquer all.