SENSE & SENSIBILITY • A Quest for Marriageable Men Where Passion Meets Practical & Decorum Bumps into Desire

Few novelists carry the gravity of endurance, romanticism, and social realism better than Jane Austen.  Upon her passing in 1817 at the young age of 41, she authored six significant novels articulating, critiquing, and commenting upon the closely entwined social stratification of the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century that has continued to impact audiences for over 200 years now with intricate plots exploring the wide spectrum of vagaries that color and define the human heart, driven by a dependence of women on marriage to secure a favorable social standing and economic security.

Sense & Sensibility is the first novel written by Austen that still stands today as one of her most popular works. First published in 1811 and adapted for the stage by playwright Kate Hamill, this ambitious and powerful stage adaptation will be presented by Center Stage Theatre as they launch their 2025-26 season with a series of performances running from  November 7-9 & 14-16^th at Midland Center for the Arts.

Directed by Keeley Stanley Bohn, Hamill’s acclaimed script keeps Austen’s wit intact while bringing a bold, theatrical pulse to the stage with sharp humor, quick character turns, and a chorus of gossips that keep the scandal mill spinning.

With a plot that centers on sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood as they navigate love and heartbreak after their father's death forces them into poverty, the story contrasts the two sisters' approaches to life: Elinor, who embodies "sense," and Marianne, who represents "sensibility", contrasting these two women’s temperaments as they struggle to balance practicality, reason, and emotion to find happiness in their lives while attempting to navigate the complexities of love and social conventions in Georgian England.

Filling the shoes in the role of the sensible Elinor Dashwood is actress Maisy McPhall, who will be making her debut at Midland Center with this production; while the character of the emotional and passionate Marianne Dashwood is portrayed by Hadley Gorsline, who is rejoining her home theatrical community after spending the last four years studying Acting & Directing at the University of Michigan.

Rounding out the stellar cast are principle actors Ella Hess as Margaret Dashwood, Emmett Evenson as Edward Ferrars, Carson Cerney as Colonel Brandon, Harry Krafchak as John Willoughby, William Campbell as Sir John Middleton, and Alex Woody as John Dashwood.

Recently I had the good fortune to chat with these two accomplished actors about the dynamics of their respective characters and the dialectic between their divergent personalities that make Sense & Sensibility such a timeless and important piece of literary and theatrical accomplishment.

REVIEW: Both characters in this production are complex women navigating the challenges of life by attempting to balance practicality and emotion in order to find happiness, which resonates through much of Jane Austen’s work. What are the qualities  about these two women that made you to want to portray them?

Maisy McPhall: I’ve studied Jane Austen pretty extensively and am a huge fan of her books and am also a literature girly, so I read Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice when I was super-young.  To do this role on stage is a way to have my own take on the character, because people do view one of these characters as possessing sense and the other sensibility, but these are qualities we all possess in varying degrees, so the ability to bring every single aspect of being a young girl and bringing romance to life is a really cool opportunity for me.

Hadley Gorsline: I’ve not studied Jane Austen but I do consider myself a fan. There have been times in my life where the only way I could fall asleep was to put on Pride & Prejudice because it’s such a factful, fanciful, and comforting media for me. I love this role because sense versus sensibility are features we all embody through different aspects of each other’s characters throughout this piece; and I feel that dichotomy really speaks to the societal pressure these women are under.

To be a woman in that time wasn’t just about who do you marry, it was about who do I want to raise children and spend my life with? Who do I want to grow old with? What kind of lifestyle do I want to have? How do I support my family? How can I take care of people relying upon me?

So much of a woman’s economic future and lifestyle had to do with who they married, considering that was the only way to practice agency back then; and a lot of times women didn’t even have that agency. So I think we can look at this play as a comedy, but also as something we can learn a lot about the past from and how that past set up for us then exists in the time that we’re living in now.

REVIEW: Both of these characters are rather complex women, so what’s it like to act in a play based on a novel where readers may have very specific, pre-conceived ideas about the characters? Austen’s novels are so detailed that isn’t it difficult to transfer those internal thoughts and emotions into a live theatrical performance?

Hadley:  Absolutely. I'm so glad you asked this question. It's something I think  about when it comes to the character of Marianne, because she can absolutely come off as just a hormonal, overdramatic teenage girl that only cares about boys.

I think what this adaptation does so well, and what I hope comes through in the performance is that her stakes are so high, not because she's in love with a boy, but because her entire future and her entire ability to take care of her family depends on how well she can marry.  And so when she's correct about a boy, she's also crying about a life she could have had and how it can affect  what's available to her in her future. I think understanding those stakes can really combat stereotypes that people may have about these characters.

Maisy:   I think it's a really powerful choice to either marry for money or marry for love back in that time, because both say something about you. Marianne is just as brave going out for love as Elinor  is going out for security and title. It's a hard thing to think about when you're playing this role in the mindset of being a teenager. I think with my role it’s trying to find a variation, because she’s a 19-year old girl who can still get excited about a little crush, but can also bring herself back to her senses. Plus it plays into the character of the Mother, who’s kind of always buying into Marianne's ideals and romances, and she doesn't really put a stop to it. After their father passed away, Elinor has to be the brains and think about navigating all the societal pressures.

REVIEW: How do you find a balance between showing the deep inner turmoil of that character while also maintaining that outward composure that defines her sense and rationality?

Maisy:  It's definitely hard for me as an actor. It's a very different role than I've ever played, because I've always portrayed kind of the loud characters. And when you know me, that makes a lot of sense.

I’m finding the points where she can sort of back away and I feel like I use my physical composure quite a bit, like emotions showing on my face might read more for Elinor’s  romance or reveal her  want to be as idealistic as Marianne, but always remembering to pull my shoulders back more for Elinor. That sense of pulling yourself up by the shoulders is really a balancing or anchoring thing for Elinor - like this is the composure you have to take in life. This is the mold you have to fit for this time period.

REVIEW: For Marianne’s character and her motivation, how do you make her impulsiveness, which is a rather naïve passion, feel genuine and sympathetic rather than simply foolish or way out there?

Hadley:  I really think that what Marianne wants is what all of us want. She wants a vibrant life where she can experience a full range of emotions, where she can create art and experience art and feel understood for the artist that she is and the woman that she is. So I really root her desire in her identity as an artist, and that's sort of my connection point as an artist, too.  What Marianne wants sounds crazy when I'm trying to explain it to my friends or my family; but Is it really that crazy to want to be seen and be appreciated in the world for your point of view?

REVIEW: What for each of you is the most challenging component involved with this production?

Hadley: I think personally it has been remembering the fact that something like the simple act of touch meant so much more back then. It's easy in modern times to place a hand on the shoulder, or if you grab a hand it didn't mean anything necessarily romantic. But in this play it's like you're looking at me with my gloves off, or my modesty off.  It's remembering these rules and how back then a whole new society of rules and regulations meant different things to people than it does to us now. Back then the gossips and eyes were always on you all of the choices you made in life had so much more weight than they do right now.

Maisy:  Yeah, even turning around your shoulder to look at someone behind you would have been considered improper back then and would have people talking about you, so finding the balance between those physical choices we can work into the play -  I mean  a regular audience member wouldn't know about the shoulder, or impropriety of looking behind you at someone - so finding those moments improve the dramatics of the play. Finding the line of how strict do we want to keep to these rules so  people still understand the social pressure of those times can be challenging.

REVIEW: How is everything coming together? Are you pleased with the way rehearsals are going?

Hadley:  We’ve been having an absolute blast. It's been one of the most fun rehearsal processes I've ever been involved with.. Every day is a new adventure. It's a lot to learn. This play is just a monster of transition.  Our director said there's 29 different scenes, so swapping between 29 different sets within the span of one hour and 40 minutes and remembering whose house are we in can be a challenge.

Maisy: . I once read a book review about a Jane Austen play that said it's an entire book of people going to each other's houses.  I think that's really humorous, but I think that also connects to our play as well because they're always hosting each other. And so we really span the entire country  of England throughout the play, but it’s been a learning process for sure. We have some really incredible people involved in this production.

Center Stage Theatre’s production of Jane Austen’s ‘Sense & Sensibility’ will run from November 7-9 and 14-16^th at Midland Center for the Arts. Shows start at 7:30 PM with 2:00 PM Sunday matinees. Tickets can be obtained by visiting MidlandCenter.org.