Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of)

Pride and Prejudice (sort of) is at Salisbury Playhouse from 27 to 31 October, with the final performance on Saturday 31 October. It's a West End comedy retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, adapted for the stage, and it's back on tour after a run that picked up an Olivier Award.

If you know the story, you know the basics: the Bennet sisters, the social climbing, and the slow-burn tension between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. This version keeps the 1800s setting but swaps the Regency manners for a mix of comedy, music and what the production describes as pure chaos. It's a bold reimagining rather than a faithful adaptation, so it doesn't treat the source material with kid gloves.

The music is where it really departs from the book. Instead of period pieces, the show leans on a soundtrack of pop favourites, with songs like Young Hearts Run Free, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and You're So Vain woven into the action. It's a play with songs, not a musical in the traditional sense, so the music sits alongside the dialogue rather than taking over.

It's an Olivier Award-winning production, and it runs for about 2 hours 20 minutes including an interval. It's rated for ages 12+, so it's a good one to bring a teenager along to if they've read the book in school and fancy seeing it played for laughs. The run is short, from 27 to 31 October, so if you're planning to go, you'll want to pick your date early.