High Drama in High Society

SPS Theater Company packs the house for Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility”

BY KRISTIN DUISBERG

When the gentleman Henry Dashwood dies and the rules of inheritance dictate that his wife and three daughters must leave their longtime home and manage on a miniscule income, a wealthy suitor for 19-year-old Elinor or for Marianne, age 16 1/2, seems like the only way to save the family from financial ruin. But the sensible Elinor is drawn to the scholarly Edward Ferrars, and Marianne snubs the overtures of the older Colonel Brandon for romance with John Willoughby, a handsome and charming young man who shares her ebullient, artistic temperament … and whose ungentlemanly conduct threatens the family with further disgrace.

Last weekend, the SPS Theater Company brought Jane Austen’s 1811 novel “Sense and Sensibility” to life in the New Space Theater, with performances on Friday and Saturday night as well as Sunday afternoon. An undertaking that tapped the talents of the full company for acting, stage management, art and more, the play featured Maya Edouard ’27 and Kitty Diamond ’25 as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, respectively; Darnell Johnson ’25 as Edward Ferrars; Ryan Sull ’25 as John Willoughby; and Andrew Choi ’25 as Colonel Brandon. Played to a full house, the production, based on a Jon Jory adaptation of Austen’s novel, utilized simple sets and projections to convey the various cottages, grand estates and high-society settings of Regency Era London.

A Romantic period drama that explores the tension between reason (“sense”) and emotion (“sensibility”), the play is one that can be challenging to stage owing to it focus on social dynamics and the emotional journeys of the central characters. For interim Director of Theater Chloe Otterson, there also was the challenge of joining SPS almost a month into the school year. A 2024 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Boarding School Teaching Residency Fellows program, Otterson had spent two years at SPS as a Theater Teaching Fellow. Following the departure of Director of Theater Kirsten McKinney at the end of September, Otterson returned to campus as interim director and adviser in Warren House — an opportunity she describes as “the best surprise.”

“I am most proud of how the students came together as an ensemble for this show,” Otterson says. “Their supportive energy propelled all the hard work we put into the production for a truly spectacular weekend of theater and storytelling. I cannot wait to continue working with these students on the Winter One-Acts and the Spring Play.”