A Very Austen Christmas

TheatreWorks brings a sparkling new Christmas show to the Bay Area with Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, bringing beloved characters onto the stage in a heartwarming new story that’s sure to delight audiences this holiday season. 

Over the years, there have been a plethora of stories written continuing the stories of Elizabeth Bennet, Fitzwiliam Darcy and their families introduced in Jane Austen’s beloved novel, Pride and Prejudice. But there are definitely some characters who get more attention than others. Darcy’s only sibling, Georgiana, and Elizabeth’s second to youngest sister, Kitty, are characters that often fade into the background and are almost forgotten—Georgiana for her quiet nature and Kitty for her similarity to her younger and more scandalous sister, Lydia. 

In TheatreWorks’ new play, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, these two often-overlooked characters get a chance to step into the spotlight, buoyed by the love and support of the other Bennet sisters as they embark on their own stories of love, loss, and societal expectations. 

The show does a good job reminding the audience of the major plot points in Pride and Prejudice, including calling Darcy both prideful and prejudiced to his face, which might be a bit heavy handed. But if you aren’t familiar enough with the source material to at least name all the characters and remember where they end up at the end of the novel, I’d recommend brushing up on Pride and Prejudice before seeing the show so that you can get the most enjoyment out of all the fun jokes and references. (Also, simply because there’s no bad time for an Austen reread or rewatch.)

The play opens, unsurprisingly, at Darcy’s familial estate, Pemberley, as the family is getting ready for Christmas. Elizabeth and Darcy are newly married and it is a treat for the audience to see them so happy together, but the focus is truly on Georgiana (Emily Ota), her musical talent and her correspondence with Mr. Henry Grey (Nima Rakhshanifar), a young man in London who has caught her attention. Since the events of Pride and Prejudice, she and fourth Bennet daughter, Kitty (Kushi Beauchamp), have become fast friends, writing letters regularly and attending events in the London social season together. Kitty is also the only one who knows about the letters with Mr. Grey.

Even though they only talk about their shared love of music, Georgiana is scared to share this connection with others, particularly her brother because of the disastrous attachment to Mr. Wickham which featured prominently in Pride and Prejudice. Even after Mr. Grey is invited to Pemberley for Boxing day and Darcy is made aware of the letters, tension is in the air between the siblings. Georgiana is falling in love and wants to trust her feelings, with the support of the Bennet sisters around her, but is unsure of herself. Darcy is extremely dubious of Mr. Grey and has no qualms about making it very obvious. 

As events proceed, old wounds are reopened and music continues to be Georgiana’s source of light and strength. Kitty, too, has come out of her shell. Instead of following in Lydia’s shadow, she’s learned to like and want things for herself. One of the strongest moments in the play is a speech Kitty delivers to Lydia, berating her for her self-obsession and truly taking space for herself in a way that is extremely unusual in a period piece and yet does not feel out of place. 

The relationships between the women on stage perhaps the best part of the play. The Bennet sisters, now branching out, finding husbands and their own places in the world, come together around each other and around Georgiana in ways that feel very true to real life. The relationships feel like any you might find among sisters today, and yet still feel perfectly in place amongst the regency setting. They butt heads, quarrel and argue, but still come together when it counts and comforts each other in ways that match the characterization of each individual personality. One moment toward the end of act one sees all the Bennet sisters gathered around Georgiana, comforting her at the front of the stage after a quarrel with her brother. Even at such a fraught moment in the story, it felt full of warmth and love to see these family members gathered together to give and receive comfort from one another. 

Another stand out piece of this production is the set. Beautifully done up in blues, the set transitions from Pemberley in act one to a fine London town house in act two, done up beautifully for christmas, each time with a  piano forte center stage, putting Georgiana’s passion for music and way of expressing herself literally in the center of the action. It’s a beautiful and subtle reminder to the audience of how Georgiana shows herself, even if she is not as loud as the Bennets or other members of society. In act one, there is a Christmas tree on stage about 25 years before the practice is documented in England, but it’s handled well and one character makes light jokes about bringing the outdoors inside. 

While I loved the show overall, and left with the warm, fuzzy feelings I crave from a Christmas show, it wasn’t perfect and I would be remiss if I didn’t point out one issue baked into the script itself that really bothered me: there’s an issue of characterization of the original characters, particularly Mr. Darcy. Generally speaking, with any beloved work of fiction, there are how the characters actually are in the book, and then there are certain changes and stereotypes that the general public accepts about a character from resulting pop culture references that get layered on to the character’s personalities over the years. I point this out only to say that I don’t have a problem with accepting these altered versions of characters that may not be exactly “true” to how they were originally written by Jane Austen in 1813. 

I would argue that the Bennet sisters and Georgiana all walk this line fairly well. They bridge the gap between the original character and what we expect from pop culture renditions and modern women fairly well. The one that didn’t quite make the leap was Mr. Darcy. Darcy is fundamentally a reserved man, and one defined by his duties, which he takes very seriously. In act one, the script gets around this a bit by making him drunk when he first interacts with Mr. Grey, but by act two he is squabbling with his sister out loud and in front of others in ways that feel fundamentally opposed to who he is as a character. He is rude to his guests in ways that cannot fully be explained by his worry for Georgiana and he is extremely free with his thoughts and emotions in a way that would probably shock any man from the regency era, especially one as reserved as Darcy.

Overall, the show provided everything you want from a Holiday show—family, comfort, love, and a happy ending— while also providing everything you want from an Austen show—romance, a comedy of manners, and, again, a happy ending. Audiences will walk out of TheatreWorks’ play, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, with feelings of warmth and love. It’s a wonderful way to steep yourself in the holidays and get your Austen fix at the same time. 

Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley

Written by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon

Through: December 28, 2025

Where: Lucie Stern Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA

Tickets: theatreworks.org, (877) 662-8976