Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley presented by Buffalo Theatre Ensemble at McAninch Arts Center

Daily Herald - Recommended

"...Mary, the middle Bennet sister in "Pride and Prejudice," doesn't figure prominently in Jane Austen's novel. But the bookish young woman with a penchant for playing piano takes center stage in "Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley," an imagined sequel by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon currently in a revival at Buffalo Theatre Ensemble under associate artistic director Amelia Barrett."

Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended

"...For Jane Austen fans who adore the spirited Bennet sisters and their respective partners, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly ,now on at view in Glen Ellyn, might be a perfect addition to your holiday calendar. The show is well-executed, amusing, and the two lead actors, Whitney Dottery as Mary Bennet and Daniel Millhouse as Arthur de Bourgh, are outstanding in their respective roles."

NewCity Chicago - Recommended

"...Under the direction (and choreography) of Amber Mak, Drury Lane’s Cinderella is absolutely lovely to behold, the epitome of fairy tale musicals even in the age of Beauty and the Beast. But it is something else as well, and I’ll use a word for it that has been unfairly derided by right-wing politicians hoping for electoral payoffs: this play is woke. (I use it here in its intended meaning of an awareness of social inequalities such as racial justice, sexism, and LGBT rights…or, in this case, economic inequality.) Beane’s book replaces a lot of the 1950s “oh my, look at the prince!” claptrap for a much stronger and more realistic—can you even use that word for a story in which a pumpkin becomes a fancy coach?—and modern look at the individual motivations and reactions of the characters."