What sparked the idea for this play?
I love Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice but stage versions of the period piece are difficult and expensive to produce. I wanted to retell the story in modern times, but not today, so I chose the 1950s American high school as the setting so was is distanced enough for today’s audiences.

If you had to describe this play in three words, what would they be?
Funny, intriguing, thought-provoking.

Which character was the most fun to write and why?
Dylan Atkins, the modern version of the novel’s Mr. Darcy, was the most intriguing for me. The comic character of Myron Collins was also fun.

Is there a moment in the play you especially love seeing in rehearsal or performance?
When Lizzy realizes that there is much more to the moody, snobbish Dylan Atkins when she sees how devoted he is to his crippled sister Ginny.

What’s something directors should know before staging this play?
None of these characters are caricatures of 1950s high school but real, believable people that audiences can relate to.

What was the biggest challenge in writing this play?
Finding a modern equivalent for the novel’s moody aristocrat Mr. Darcy was interesting but challenging. Finding modern versions of the other characters was not so difficult and very rewarding.

What do you hope audiences walk away feeling?
As in the novel, the play should make modern audiences think about the ways we are prejudice in judging other people.

Just for fun: If this play came with a warning label, what would it say?
Do not let the story become a clichéd version of the 1950s high school as with the musical Grease.

Anything else you’d like to share with theatres considering this play?
I hope audiences are entertained and eventually moved by this modern version of a very famous story.