Scornful of men and the love they profess for her, Gwendolen Harleth is a beautiful but spoiled young woman, frustrated by her limited options in Victorian England. Daniel Deronda is an intelligent, handsome young man who has been raised by his guardian, Sir Hugo Mallinger, but knows nothing of his true origins. Deronda’s search leads him into the world of nineteenth-century Zionism, a discovery that will alter the course of his life.
An original L.A. Theatre Works commission, adapted and directed by Kate McAll.
Includes an audience talk-back about George Eliot with Hilary Schor, professor of English, comparative literature, and law at the University of Southern California.
An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast recording, starring:
Edita Brychta as Mother, Madame von Langen, and others; Barry Creyton as Sir Hugo Mallinger and Lord Brackenshaw; Ifan Meredith as Daniel Deronda; Cerris Morgan-Moyer as Aunt Nancy and others; Kimberley Nixon as Gwendolen Harleth; Darren Richardson as Mordecai, Hans, and others; Helen Sadler as Mirah Lapidoth; Julian Sands as Henleigh Mallinger Grandcourt; André Sogliuzzo as Uncle Henry and others; and with Kate Burton as George Eliot and the narrator.
Recorded live in performance at UCLA’s James Bridges Theater in March 2018.
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“Up-and-coming British actors Kimberly Nixon and Ifan Meredith take the lead roles in what first appears to be a nineteenth-century melodrama about the meeting of a bright, ambitious young woman with limited means and an upper-crust young gentleman who saves the day. However, beneath the surface of the story, Victorian novelist Mary Anne Evans, better known as George Eliot, had a much more serious topic in mind—the condition and limited opportunities of Jewish people in mid-nineteenth-century Europe. Backed by an outstanding L.A. Theatre Works cast, BBC writer/producer Kate McAll did a fine job distilling Eliot’s 1876 portrayals of Zionism and interfaith relationships into a lively, entertaining, and educational production.”
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