This and That About Mansfield Park 2012 (play)

I'd heard a while back that there was some production of Mansfield Park coming out in England, but hadn't heard of it since; today I stumbled across a video with clips from it, which pleased me mightily! and I thought some of you might like to see it too.

And now I must comment on a few things...
1:12 ~ They called Fanny strong-willed! Yay. I like them. Mrs. Norris and Sir Thomas don't seem very striking, but the quotes are coming out of the book I think, so that's good. Henry Crawford seems to do tolerably... Fanny too, although she looks less like Fanny than she did on the poster.
1:38 ~ Aww, one of my favorite scenes from the book! Fanny does tolerably but I don't much care for Edmund. He seems like a modern guy dressed in Regency attire (and probably not enjoying it).
2:10 - 2:20 ~ Ugh! Edmund! Don't be an idiot!
2:20 ~ "Nevah, NEVAH!" Squeal!!! I've imagined Fanny saying that before. Ahhh, I do love Fanny. She knows he's a jerk even though everyone else is too stupid to realize it... :P And honestly, the way they try to pressure her into marrying him, appealing to her sense of duty and honor... argh!!! It makes me want to go do something drastic to them. Or jump into the story and make myself a nice supportive friend for Fanny. Sigh.

Well, it doesn't really seem like the greatest thing ever, but if I lived in England I'd have tried everything to be able to go. To see a professional Jane Austen play at a theater!! Are there many felicities in the world superior to that? ;)

Mary and Edmund, foreground; Fanny, background

There are also some cast interviews on the theater company's channel. The Mary Crawford actress seemed to have a pretty good understanding of the story, I think, even if I didn't quite agree with all her opinions (although she made good points). She would do Mary well, I think. And as for the Fanny actress-- well, it was a short interview, but at the end she was asked if she thought Fanny should end up with Edmund or Henry, and she said "Definitely Edmund! Definitely Edmund--no question." And I was like, okay. YOU PASS. And she understands that there is a lot more to Fanny than people generally realize. She seems to be in everything better suited to the role than either of the actresses from the newer movies. I don't think her looks were exactly suitable... but give me her over Billie Piper any day.

Oh, I do wish they'd filmed it!

Now I'm rather in a mood to read the book again. I intend to sometime soon-ish, anyways... which, knowing me, should probably indicate sometime by the end of the summer. :P

I saw a review of it here, in case anyone's interested. Oh, and this one is good and much more informative without being annoyingly professional. (I tend to prefer the personal reviews, heehee.)

So what do you all think? :) I'm really glad someone decided to do this play... Mansfield Park definitely deserves more attention! BBC needs to follow suit!