Jane Austen fundraising

Jane Austen’s views on the international tragedies of her time are mostly unknown, except when they are brutally unsentimental. “How horrible it is to have so many people killed!--And what a blessing that one cares for none of them!” she remarked about one bloody battle of the Napoleonic Wars. (Letter #74, in Deirdre Le Faye’s standard edition of Austen’s correspondence)

Two centuries later, the distance from the devastating war in Gaza to the genteel ballrooms of Austen’s novels could hardly yawn more widely. Perhaps it’s that very incongruity that inspired film-industry fundraisers for the health-care NGO Medical Aid for Palestinians to organize this weekend’s benefit--a table read of Pride and Prejudice.

The event, scheduled for Sunday night in London, stars a cadre of well-known actors, some of them in gender-swapped roles. The cast is headed by Ambika Mod (of One Day fame) as Elizabeth Bennet and Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Mr. Darcy. Tickets cost £20.71 (about $28), with all profits benefiting MAP.

Since the event is scheduled to last less than four hours, it’s clearly not going to comprise a full reading of the novel, but I can’t tell from the publicity materials whose adaptation is being used. Nida Manzoor, who wrote and directed the delightful Polite Society and We Are Lady Parts, is described as the director of the table read, so perhaps she also condensed the novel.

Could a non-table-read version of this adaptation, with the same intriguing cast and director, ever make it to our screens? We can live in hope.