James Bye Impresses as Mr Darcy
“If it is accepted that a woman has a soul, should it not also be accepted that she has a brain,”
Henry Alveston
It is 30 years since a wet shirted Colin Firth as Mr Darcy, stepped out of that lake at Pemberley in Derbyshire and won the hearts of a nation. On that occasion Elizabeth Bennet played by Jennifer Ehle was consternated at having been caught viewing Pemberley. In 2011 crime novelist PD James wrote the novel Death Comes to Pemberley, a follow up murder mystery based on some of the characters from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
So we have here theatre heaven, Jane Austen fans meet Agatha Christie fans, except that PD James’ novels are more literary than those from the Queen of Crime. Originating at the beautiful Mill at Sonning, I was blown away by Sean Cavanagh’s set of Georgian wooden frames revealing behind the wooded Derbyshire estate painted exquisitely and moving for different locations including the prison.
Duncan Abel and Rachel Wagstaff have penned this stage adaptation of Death Comes to Pemberley which is having its world premiere in the Theatre Royal at Windsor. There was a version on the BBC in 2013 which miscast Anna Maxwell-Martin as Elizabeth Darcy.
It is six years after the Darcys’ wedding in Pride and Prejudice and the Napoleonic Wars against the French are brewing. There has been a revolt too in Ireland which has involved the British army, and in this play, Darcy’s cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam (Sean Rigby) and the notorious George Wickham (Sam Woodhams).
Darcy’s sister Georgiana (Celia Cruwys-Finnigan) is still unmarried and has two suitors, an unsuitable Colonel Fitzwilliam, in my opinion far too old and unattractive for her (scroll down for the photograph) and the musical Henry Alveston (on the night I saw, a charming Joe Bence). Both Georgiana and Alveston play the harpsichord together, a pleasing period touch and a pretty couple.
Staying at Pemberley is the fabulously snobbish Lady Catherine de Burgh (a magnificent Sarah Berger) who seems to have come to terms with Darcy (a very handsome James Bye)’s marrying Elizabeth Bennet (Jamie-Rose Duke) but stills carps on in her famous one-liners about the rest of Elizabeth’s family. It is the entrance of the most disreputable sister Lydia (Mogali Masuku) in a hysterical state which relays the murder of Captain Denny in the woods near Pemberley.
It is the night before the annual Pemberley Ball to which George Wickham is not invited. A search party goes to the scene of the murder and George Wickham is found holding Captain Denny’s bludgeoned body and is covered in blood. Wickham is brought back to the great house and Darcy is hostile to him. Elizabeth helps clean Wickham up and finds a clean shirt for him and has to explain to Darcy that her motives for helping Wickham are to protect Lydia’s distress at seeing her husband covered in blood. Wickham is accused of the murder of Captain Denny, imprisoned to await trial and the only two who believe in his innocence are Darcy and Elizabeth.
Reviews of murder mysteries (unless it’s Toby Young publishing who did it in The Mousetrap) do not tell you who committed the murder and you won’t find the answer here. Other characters will be played by doubling up some of the roles with the arrival of Wickham’s dubious friend Mrs Younge (Louise Faulkner) and members of the Bidwell family who live close to Pemberley.
Although the later novel loses some of Elizabeth’s sparkling wit in so far as she has only Lydia from her family at Pemberley, we do see that she is not slavishly obedient to her husband but prepared to be true to her own principles. Of course Elizabeth has to overcome Darcy’s prejudice in his history with George Wickham’s bad behaviour.
I think James Bye was very well cast as the handsome and formerly supercilious Darcy whose natural elegance shines. I am glad he has lost the moustache and slight beard. I also commend the very handsome Sam Woodhams (Robert Pattinson’s body double in Mickey 17 and looking as if he has just been on Love Island) who acts strongly and I look forward to seeing him as Elvis in the immersive show about Elvis Presley.
In the move to the proscenium arched theatre some of the women need to amplify vocally to adjust for the differently shaped auditorium, but of course Lady Catherine is the splendidly audible exception! I also might quibble with how Colonel Fitzwilliam, a good cousin to Darcy has evolved to someone unpleasant, but that is down to PD James.
Natalie Titchener, often the Costume Designer at Sonning, has done an excellent job on the army uniforms, the frocks for the women and the velvet jackets, brocade waistcoats, cravats, breeches and riding coats for Darcy.
The show tours now to seven locations for a week’s stay in each. Congratulations to Sally Hughes and The Mill at Sonning for producing this interesting mix of Austen and mystery play!
Production Notes
Death Comes to Pemberley
Written by PD James
Adapted for the stage by Duncan Abel and Rachel Wagstaff
Directed by Jonathan O’Boyle
Cast
Starring:
James Bye
Jamie-Rose Duke
Sam Woodhams
Sarah Berger
Sean Rigby
Todd Boyce
David Osmond
Joe Bence
Celia Cruwys-Finnegan
Paul Jericho
Mogali Masuku
Louise Faulkner
Creatives
Director: Jonathan O’Boyle
Set Designer: Sean Cavanagh
Costume Designer: Natalie Titchener
Composer: Stefan Bednarczyk
Lighting Designer: Mike Robertson
Sound Designer: Elizabeth Furnell
Musical Director: David Osmond
Information
Running Time: Two hours 30 minutes including an interval
Booking at various venues
to 13th September 2025
Tour Dates
Brighton Theatre Royal (September 2nd – 6th),
Theatre :
Theatre Royal Windsor
32 Thames St
Windsor
Berkshire
SL4 1PS
https://deathcomestopemberleytour.co.uk/
Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge
at the Theatre Royal Windsor
on 25th July 2025
