Staging Pride and Prejudice

This exhibition looks back to the Bright Young Things of the 1930s and the first major stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice which enjoyed success on Broadway and in the West End in 1935-6.

To explore this exhibition online, click on the exhibition links below. This exhibition can also be seen in situ at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton during 2026.

Enter the exhibition:

Part 1: Pride and Prejudice on stage: 1895 – 1936

Part 2: Pride and Prejudice on Broadway, 1935

Part 3: Pride and Prejudice in the West End, 1936

Part 4: Pride and Prejudice on stage today

Handbill for Pride and Prejudice at the Harris Theatre, Chicago, 1936. This was the original Broadway production, on a US tour.

Staging Pride and Prejudice was created with the help of many people here at Jane Austen’s House and externally.

We are especially grateful to Devoney Looser who co-curated the exhibition, wrote the text panels and contributed images. Devoney is Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University and the USA Today bestselling author or editor of 12 books, most recently Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, and Untamed Jane (2025). Her previous titles include Sister Novelists (2022), The Making of Jane Austen (2017), and The Daily Jane Austen (2019).

With thanks also to The Holburne Museum for the loan of two costume designs by Rex Whistler, and to The Salisbury Museum and the BBC for permission to reproduce key images.