Jane Austen’s beloved world blossomed into vivid life this past Saturday during the Jane Austen Regency Ball, an interactive theater experience presented by The University of Tennessee English Department and Knoxville’s First Take Co.
Miss Austen herself extended the invitation to a variety of guests of all ages and backgrounds, who arrived in a range of attire from modern casual to full Regency attire. Guests were greeted by gentle tones of period music floating down the spiraling stone staircase of UTK’s Hoskins Library, originally built in the 1930s in a Collegiate Gothic architectural style, lending the evening an airy and elegant atmosphere. As I settled in with a hot cup of tea, I scanned the grand room for those special guests whom we all came out to see—Austen’s characters—as they mingled about before the festivities started.
The interactive experience of Jane Austen’s Regency Ball is the opportunity to engage on a variety of levels with some of Austen’s most iconic characters. The pace of the night was a comforting balance between casual interaction and scripted performance. In less scripted moments—whether that be a passing hello from Mr. Knightley (portrayed by Noah McBrayer Jones) as he makes his rounds or a brief dance with the ever-charming Mr. Bingley (portrayed by Ethan Graham Roeder)—guests had control over the level of interaction they preferred to engage in. Some took the opportunity to relax and sip tea in seating along the wall, watching others dance and interact; others, like myself, went all in—from the tenaciously twisting “Grand March” that had nearly every dancing guest linked hand in hand, spiraling in and out among each other in what we might call a Regency “conga line,” to the delightfully discombobulating “Comical Fellow” with its spinning and rearranging groups of four. Let’s just say I learned that I have two left feet (and so did many others, I think).
The more scripted moments included games to break up the dancing as well as enacted moments from some of Austen’s novels. Of particular note was Miss Elizabeth Bennet (portrayed by McKinley Merritt) and Mr. Darcy’s (portrayed by Matthew Lyscas) banter on the nature of one of Mr. Darcy’s perhaps less favorable personality traits (pride, of course), pulled directly from Pride and Prejudice. Seeing the textual dialogue brought to life by both of these engaging actors, as it would have in Austen’s world, brought even more wit and spectacle to the eventful evening. And as the other special guests milled about, they at times commented to guests on the others’ interactions: Miss Mary Crawford (portrayed by Livi Fenech) gossiped with guests about Miss Jane Bennet’s (portrayed by Francesca Reggio) flirtations with Mr. Bingley, and how many side-eye glances did I notice Miss Emma Woodhouse (portrayed by Casey Maxwell) toss about to guests regarding Elizabeth and Darcy’s ignorance of each other’s affections? I lost count. And poor Mr. Crawford (portrayed by Luke Atchley) tried to keep the festivities running as smoothly as he could—a big ask for some of Austen’s most “austentatious” personalities.
The night concluded with a performance by Lark in the Morn English Country Dancers and Consort, who instructed guests in the country dances. They performed “Old Mill” and “Prince William” with accompaniment from their in-house musicians playing period instruments. A special thanks to them for patiently instructing their—at times—painfully confused guests. But we all survived, learned a little, and laughed a lot. Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet debuted the hottest new waltz out of Vienna in a strikingly intimate performance, and the entire cast took turns reading a late-arriving letter from Miss Austen herself, who unfortunately could not make the event (she never intended to in the first place).
Immensely clever and delightfully witty, the Jane Austen Regency Ball was captivating for all who attended, regardless of attire, dancing skill, or familiarity with the novelist’s work. Although the evening wrapped up by 10 pm—no chimes at midnight, no carriages turning into pumpkins—this was the kind of evening that doesn’t lose its magic. That magic lives on in the hearts of Austen’s dedicated and diverse readers. All one needs to do is thumb through the pages of any of her novels, and the adventure begins all over again.
