For scenic designer James J. Fenton, one of the challenges in creating the look for the current Merrimack Repertory Theatre production of “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” – a modern sequel to Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” – was living up to the expectations of the legions of Austen-philes.
Written by Lauren Gunderson (“Silent Sky”) and Margot Melcon, the 2016 play picks up where the 1813 romantic novel leaves off, with Elizabeth Bennet Darcy inviting her sisters to spend the holidays at Pemberley, the family estate of her new husband, Fitzwilliam Darcy.
“Pemberley is very grand, and I definitely felt an obligation to respect Austen’s many readers by designing a set that reflects the wealth and class status of these characters,” explained Fenton by telephone recently from the Brooklyn, New York, studio that is home to the CBS television series “The Code” on which he serves as set designer.
But while Fenton – who also is set designer for the new CBS series “God Friended Me” and the upcoming Apple web comedy “Dickinson” – has been designing for film, television, theater and live events for more than 20 years, his own Austen immersion is a work in progress.
“I read ‘Pride and Prejudice’ in high school, and I think I had seen one of the film versions along the way,” he says. “Then, after getting this assignment, I watched the 1995 BBC miniseries with Colin Firth.”
The stage sequel, like the novel, revolves around the Bennet sisters, but the focus this time is on serious-minded, often immodest, middle sister Mary, who longs for her own life and love – and, when her awkward and bookish cousin Arthur de Bourg arrives for the house party, may have found it.
During a six-month production design process, Fenton, whose previous MRT assignments have included “Silent Sky” and “Abigail/1702,” collaborated with director Sean Daniels and dove deep into the stacks for inspiration.
“The director wanted the production to represent the play’s literary roots, so we decided to incorporate the pages of a book into the set design. Since the two young lovers are both scientists, I chose pages from a 19th-century physiology textbook on the arteries that send blood to the eyes and to the brain.
“And there is a point in the play when Mary, falling in love, sketches her impressions of Pemberley on the inside pages of a science book, so I also found actual drafting from a construction manual for the Tuscan order of neoclassical architecture used in the set, which we reproduced as a backdrop,” says the designer.
While the story is set in the early 19th century, Fenton believes he understands why it has so many devotees, and why this sequel will likely have similar appeal.
“The characters have real contemporary relevancy, which makes it easy to relate to them. The Bennet sisters have some differences from the women of today, of course, but they are very independent-minded and very much ahead of their time,” he says.
And when it comes to Jane Austen, anything written by or connected to her inspires ardent interest from her vast, unwavering fan base.
“There is a real Harry Potter-like loyalty and devotion to Austen. Her readers are very enthusiastic about her. Pemberley is fictional, but it has been mythologized to such a level that it’s now about not only what the place is, but what it represents from a literary point of view.
“Knowing that, it would be irresponsible not to reflect the fans’ devotion in this production,” says Fenton.
“Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley”
WHEN: Through Dec. 23
WHERE: Nancy L. Donahue Theatre at Liberty Hall, 50 East Merrimack St., Lowell
TICKETS: Start at $24
INFO: 978-654-4678; mrt.org