ROLLING WORLD PREMIERE

The beloved characters from Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice live on in an all-new holiday story!

Georgiana Darcy is an accomplished pianist but wary of romance. Kitty Bennet is a bright-eyed optimist and a perfect best friend. These two younger sisters are ready for their own adventures in life and love, starting with the arrival of an admirer and secret correspondent. Meddlesome families and outmoded expectations won’t stop these determined friends from forging their own way in a holiday tale filled with music, ambition, sisterhood, and love!

Whether you’re an Austen aficionado or a first-timer to Pemberley, the final installment in the Christmas at Pemberley trilogy (Miss Bennet, The Wickhams) is a charming and original holiday treat.

 

View the Digital Program Book.

Run Time: Approx. 2 hours and 15 minutes with one 15-minute intermission.

at Northlight Theatre
9501 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie, IL 60077

DAILY HERALD

By Barbara Vitello

“Twenty-first-century feminism underscores 18th-century romance in Gunderson and Melcon’s well-written and gently humorous romantic comedy about two young women determined to be seen and most definitely heard.”

Ultimately, “Georgiana and Kitty” could be described as a celebration of female artists — and the female producers, promoters and directors who support them — wrapped up in a romance. It could also be described the other way around. Either way, it marks an enjoyable conclusion to a trilogy that hopefully will become a holiday tradition.

Read the full review. 

 

CHICAGO READER

By Kelly Kleiman

“Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley is a rom-com delight.”

Playwrights Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon wrap up their Pride and Prejudice fan fiction trilogy with Georgiana and Kitty, once more bringing to the center of the action characters peripheral in Jane Austen’s book. In this case, we’re dealing with the sister of Mr. Darcy and the youngest of the Bennet sisters. Naturally, the story is a romance, but it’s also something of a feminist tract as it focuses on Georgiana’s musical gifts and her determination that they not be dismissed just because she’s a woman.

Read the full review. 

 

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

By Chris Jones

“it’s plot-driven fan fiction that bespeaks of very impressive craft.”

“Georgiana & Kitty” is the very model of a well-made play. Things bop along in the most charming way, the plot couldn’t be easier to follow or enjoy and everything complicates (I won’t say how) just before intermission, allowing for a little soupçon of dramatic tension even though professional and romantic resolution both are assured, just as soon as everyone learns to follow their minds and their hearts. Good advice for life in my book, and, of course in Austen’s. You can enjoy the show (the last in the series, I am told) perfectly well without having seen the previous ones.”

Read the full review. 

 

EVANSTON ROUNDTABLE

By Cissy Lacks

“‘Tis the season to take a little break from politics, controversies and daily life challenges. A good fix is Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley at Northlight Theatre.”

The treat of the production is appreciating the amazing talent and complementary interpretations of the actors to each other and to their roles. What an ensemble! If for no other reason, watching them is recommendation for the experience. It is not ruining the drama to say “All’s well that ends well.” After all, it is in the holiday spirit. But the family bickering, the sisterly competitions and the misunderstood interferences bring zest to the stage.

Read the full review. 

 

CHICAGO THEATRE REVIEW

By Colin Douglas

“For fans of the English writer’s novels about romance and the lives of the late 18th century landed gentry, this latest world premiere will certainly enchant and entertain.”

Fans of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and those theatergoers who’ve enjoyed Northlight’s previous stylish and entertaining “Christmas at Pemberley” productions, will adore this third installment of the trilogy. Playwrighting duo Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon once again transport us back to Regency England in this charming comic drama with a feminist theme. Music, as Shakespeare once said, becomes the food of love and brings two lonely hearts together. Blessed with a great script, a splendid cast and directed by an artist who knows how to make the holidays festive and fun, Northlight Theatre offers another wonderful opportunity to spend Christmas at Pemberley.

Read the full review. 

 

THE ARTS SECTION | WDCB 90.9

By The Dueling Critics

“The most impressive accomplishment is the authors’ mastery of Jane Austen’s style in their witty, intelligent, and often satirical pointed dialogue. They have created a true comedy of manners in the best tradition of theater.”

Listen to the full review. 

 

Cast

janyce-elenia-caraballo
Janyce Caraballo

Georgiana Darcy

Janyce Elenia Caraballo is excited and thankful to make her Northlight debut! Select Chicago theatre credits include work with: Teatro Vista, Raven Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Theo Ubique, ETA Creative Arts Foundation, Artemisia Theatre Festival, and Emerald City Theatre. Regional Credits: Indiana Repertory Theatre, American Players Theatre, Marriott Theatre, First Folio Theatre, and TheatreSquared. Select TV/Commercial: Chicago PD, Discover Credit Card, Coors Light, Orbit Gum, ULTA Beauty, The Onion, Illinois Secretary of State PSA, and 2026 FIFA World Cup. She is currently a graduate student (MFA Acting) at The Theatre School at DePaul University and is represented by Paonessa Talent Agency.
samantha-newcomb
Samantha Newcomb

Kitty Bennet
emma-jo-boyden
Emma Jo Boyden

Jane Bingley

Emma Jo Boyden is thrilled to make her Northlight debut! Most recently she played Elaine Harper in Arsenic and Old Lace (Court). Other Chicago credits: A Recipe for Disaster (Windy City Playhouse); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Drury Lane); Hamlet (Chicago Shakespeare); The Layover (The Comrades); All Childish Things (First Folio); Don Giovanni and La Boheme (Lyric Opera); and Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man. Film/TV: Chicago PD (NBC); All or Nothin. She also works as a motion caption performer in the Call of Duty franchise. She holds a BFA from the University of Michigan. Thanks to family, friends, and Stewart Talent. Go Blue!
amanda-drinkall
Amanda Drinkall

Elizabeth Darcy

Amanda returns to Northlight where she previously appeared in White Guy on the Bus and Funnyman. Other Chicago credits include: King Charles III (Chicago Shakespeare); Mary Page Marlowe (Steppenwolf), Venus in Fur and Measure for Measure (Goodman); Dutchman (American Blues); Last Train to Nibroc (Haven Theatre-Jeff Award, Best Actress); Rest (Victory Gardens); Pygmalion (Oak Park Festival); Great Expectations (Strawdog); Pride and Prejudice (Lifeline); hamlet is dead. no gravity, The Skriker, Brand, The Love of the Nightingale, and Pullman, WA (Red Tape); and sixteen shows with The Back Room Shakespeare Project. Regional credits include North Carolina & Michigan Shakespeare Festivals.  TV credits: Chicago Med, Bobby & Iza. Film credits: The View From Tall. Ms. Drinkall holds a BFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is represented by Gray Talent Group.
erik-hellman
Erik Hellman

Henry Gray

Erik is happy to be returning to Northlight after The Commons of Pensacola and Lost in Yonkers. Select Chicago credits: Luna Gale (Goodman and Center Theatre Group, LA); The Good Book, Tartuffe, The Misanthrope,  Proof (Jeff Nomination – Supporting Actor), The Comedy of Errors, The Mystery of Irma Vep (Jeff Nomination – Lead Actor), Titus Andronicus and Arcadia (Court); Eastland (Lookingglass); Hesperia (Writers); The Madness of King George III, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth and Edward II (Chicago Shakespeare); Honest, The Elephant Man and Huck Finn (Steppenwolf). He is a company member of Strawdog. Select regional credits: Kirk Douglas Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory. Film/TV: The Dark Knight, The Chicago Code, Boss, Betrayal, Chicago Fire and Chicago PD.
andrea-san-miguel
Andrea San Miguel

Mary Bennet

Northlight Debut. Chicago Area credits include The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci (Goodman Theatre); Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Comedy of Errors (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); How to Defend Yourself (Victory Gardens Theater); Twelfth Night (Writers Theatre). Regional credits include The Notebooks of Leonardo Davinci (Shakespeare Theatre Company); As You Like It (Guthrie Theater); The Book Club Play, Appoggiatura (Indiana Repertory Theatre); As You Like It, The Recruiting Officer, The Maids, A Flea in Her Ear, Pericles(American Players Theatre); Alias Grace (Cincinnati Playhouse); Miss. Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Jungle Theater); and three seasons with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. Andrea is represented by their beloved, Paonessa Talent. Up next, The Notebooks of Leonardo Davinci at the Old Globe in San Diego. AndreaSanMiguel.com; IG: A_San_Miguel
nate-santana
Nate Santana

Thomas O'Brien

Northlight: The Legend of Georgia McBride. Other Chicago credits include SS! Romeo and Juliet, SS! Twelfth Night (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Marvin’s Room (Shattered Globe Theatre); Ironbound (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Balm in Gilead, Golden Boy (Griffin Theatre); White Tie Ball, Mommas Boyz (Teatro Vista); Comrades Mine (City Lit Theater Company); The Rainmaker (BoHo Theatre); The Merchant of Venice, (First Folio Theatre); What Happened When and Slipping (the side project). Television credits include Chicago Med, Chicago PD, SUITS, and The Exorcist. Nate is an ensemble member of Teatro Vista and Shattered Globe Theatre.
joseph-sultani
Yousof Sultani

Fitzwilliam Darcy
preeti-thaker
Preeti Thaker

Lydia Wickham

Production Team

Marti Lyons

Director

Marti Lyons is thrilled to return to Northlight Theatre where she last directed The City or Conversation by Anthony Giardina. Most recently, Marti directed the co-world premiere of Wife of a Salesman by Eleanor Burgess at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Sense and Sensibility adapted by Jessica Swale at American Players Theatre, and the world-premiere of John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower at Studio Theatre in D.C. Marti’s other productions include The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess at Writers Theatre; Cymbeline at American Players Theatre; The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and both the stage and audio productions of Kings by Sarah Burgess at Studio Theatre; the world-premiere of How to Defend Yourself by liliana padilla, a Victory Gardens and Actors Theatre of Louisville co-production; Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee at Victory Gardens and City Theatre; Witch by Jen Silverman at Geffen Playhouse and Writers Theatre (LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Direction); Native Gardens by Karen Zacarías at Victory Gardens; Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; I, Banquo at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Title and Deed by Will Eno at Lookingglass Theatre Company; Laura Marks’ Bethany and Mine at The Gift Theatre. Next, Marti will direct the world premiere of Galileo’s Daughter by Jessica Dickey at Remy Bumppo. Marti is the Artistic Director of Remy Bumppo Theatre in Chicago, an ensemble member at The Gift Theatre, and a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. martilyons.com.

Richard & Jacqueline Penrod

Set Design

Richard and Jacqueline are very happy to be collaborating once again with Northlight, having previously designed Gee’s Bend, Pride and Prejudice, Tuesdays with Morrie, The Mystry of Irma Vep, At Wit’s End, and Over the Tavern.  Recent designs include: Pygmalion, Northanger Abbey, Love and Information, and The Importance of Being Earnest (Remy Bumppo); Apartment 3A, and Stick Fly (Windy City Playhouse); Nice Work If You Can Get It, Big Fish, and All Shook Up (Theatre at the Center); Richard III (Gift Theatre at Steppenwolf); Mud Sky Blue (Red Orchid); Luck of the Irish and Welcome Home Jenny Sutter (Next); Hank Williams: Lost Highway (American  Blues Theatre); Barnum and The Christmas Schooner (Mercury) and Around The World In Eighty Days (Lookingglass). They have received many nominations and awards for their design work.  Jacqueline is an Associate Professor in the Theatre Department at Columbia College Chicago.  Richard runs the technical theatre program for New Trier High School.
Raquel Adorno

Costume Design

RAQUEL ADORNO (Costume Design) NORTHLIGHT: Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, Intimate Apparel; CHICAGO: Measure for Measure, I, Banquo; (Chicago Shakespeare); Wife of a Salesman (Writers); The Island, The Tragedy Of Othello, The Moor of Venice (Court); Mies Julie (Victory Gardens); Unelectable You (The Second City); D.O.A.(Strawdog Theatre Company); Murder Ballad, CARRIE (Bailiwick Chicago). REGIONAL: The Tempest, Intimate Apparel (Utah Shakespeare Festival); A Raisin in the Sun, The Taming of the Shrew, Cymbeline, A Doll’s House, A Doll’s House, Part 2 (American Players); EDUCATION: MFA Northwestern University. AWARDS: The Michael Maggio Award 2022, The Michael Merritt Academic Achievement Prize for Collaborative Design 2019. raqueladorno.com
Jason Lynch

Light Design

Jason is a Chicago-based lighting designer and returns to Northlight Theatre, where previous design credits include How A Boy Falls. Other Chicago credits include: Fannie (The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer), School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, I Hate It Here, Ohio State Murders, The Sound Inside, Lottery Day (Goodman); I,Cinna, I, Banquo (Chicago Shakespeare); The First Deep Breath (Victory Gardens); Kill Move Paradise (TimeLine); and The Total Bent (Haven Theatre). Regional credits include: Hairspray (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); A Doll’s House, A Doll’s House, Part 2, The Wild Party, Drag On (Denver Center for the Performing Arts); and Feeding Beatrice (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis). He was also the recipient of the 2019 Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award which recognizes emerging theatrical designers within the Chicago area. Jason is a proud member of The Association for Lighting Production and Design and is represented by The Gersh Agency. www.jasondlynch.com

Christopher Kriz

Original Music & Sound Design

Christopher Kriz is a composer and sound designer based in Chicago and is pleased to return to Northlight having previously designed Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas At Pemberley (Jeff nomination for Original Music), Mothers and Sons, 4000 Miles, The Whipping Man, Black Pearl Sings!, and Eclipsed. Chicago designs include: Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Court Theatre, Remy Bumppo, Victory Gardens, Timeline Theatre, Shattered Globe Theatre, The Gift Theatre, and many others. Regional: Seattle Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Peninsula Players, Crossroads Theatre, Montana Shakespeare Festival, Nebraska Repertory Theatre, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, and others. A winner of five Joseph Jefferson Awards, Kriz is a proud member of United Scenic Artists 829. To hear more of his work, please visit christopherkriz.com

Audio Description symbolOpen caption symbol

Accessible Performances

December 16 at 8:00 pm: ASL Interpreter and Open Captions

December 17 at 2:30 pm: Audio Descriptions and Open Captions

 

SENSORY GUIDE

This guide holds many different accessibility tools to make your experience at our show as comfortable as possible. Please be aware that not every element of this guide will be useful to each individual, therefore, please feel free to pick and choose which accessibility tools would be most beneficial to you. The guide includes a synopsis of the show, sensory warnings, and photos of what to expect when you arrive at the theater.

Sensory Guide for Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley

 

For more information or questions about Captioning, ASL Interpretation, or Audio Description please contact Ruben Carrazana: 847.324.1615 or rcarrazana@northlight.org.

Visit our Accessibility Page for more information for our whole season.