ELIZABETH BENNET – (Lizzy to her family) Our heroine, 20 years old, very bright, very lively, with a mischievous sense of humour. In the modern parlance, she takes no shit from anyone.
JANE BENNET – 23, her older sister. Beautiful, gentle, affectionate, tends to think well of everyone.
MARY BENNET – 18, serious, bookish without being particularly bright, earnest and humourless.
LYDIA – 15, high-spirited, sexually precocious, one of those girls who ‘just wanna have fun’. Thoughtless, but not a bad bone in her body.
KITTY – 17, very much under Lydia’s influence. Excitable and easily led.
MR BENNET – late 40s, slightly older than Mrs Bennet, clever and dryly witty. Twenty-two years ago, in his youth, he got Mrs Bennet pregnant and did the decent thing and married her, and has stoically endured the consequences ever since.
MRS BENNET – early 40s, was probably a Lydia in her youth. She still has a romantic heart, but now all her energies are devoted to securing advantageous marriages for her daughters. Mr Bennet is ‘landed gentry’, Mrs Bennet is from a class below.
MR DARCY – late 20s, is so grand that no one dares to call him by his Christian name. Enormously rich, he owns a grand house (Pemberley) and a large chunk of Derbyshire. Clever, proud, and reserved. But somewhere inside there beats a loving heart.
GEORGIANA DARCY – 17, his much-loved sister. Very much looks up to her older brother.
MR CHARLES BINGLEY – 25, is a rich young gentleman from the North. Warm, friendly, eager to see the good in everyone. He might have a slight Yorkshire or North-Eastern accent.
MISS CAROLINE BINGLEY – 20s, his sister. Snobbish and judgmental, but desperate for Mr Darcy’s approval.
MRS LOUISA HURST – late 20s, another sister. Miss Bingley’s wing-woman. (Mr Hurst is only interested in drinking, card games and country sports, so didn’t want to be in this stage version.)
SIR WILLIAM LUCAS – 50ish, did very well in trade in Meryton, very proud of his knighthood. Good-natured, a bit pompous.
CHARLOTTE LUCAS – early 20s, his daughter. A close friend of Elizabeth’s, she has a ruthlessly practical approach to life.
MR COLLINS – 30ish, a rather dim-witted clergyman who has an unjustifiably high opinion of himself. Greatly in awe of Lady Catherine, to whom he owes his living.
LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH – 50s, a wealthy aristocratic widow, aunt to Mr Darcy. Autocratic, unpleasant and fairly stupid.
LADY ANNE DE BOURGH – her daughter, early 20s, pale and sickly, she suffers from various unspecified health problems. Never speaks in this version.
GEORGE WICKHAM – late 20s, a personable young officer. Childhood friend (and now enemy) of Mr Darcy. We need to think he’s going to be the hero when we meet him, he’s so charming.
DENNY – 20ish, another officer.
MR GARDINER – late 40s, Mrs Bennet’s brother. Kind, sensible and practical.
MRS GARDINER – 30s, affectionate, aunt to Elizabeth.
MRS REYNOLDS – 60s, housekeeper at Pemberley.
HANNAH or HARRY – late teens, servant at the Lambton inn.
MAID – servant to all locations as required.
BUTLER or DANCERS – extras as desired.