Adapted by Kate Hamill and directed by Cynthia Lagodzinski, “Sense and Sensibility” will open at Las Positas College in March 2026. The production brings Jane Austen’s story of the Dashwood sisters to the Black Box Theater in the Mertes Center for the Arts, featuring a mix of period drama and modern comedic elements.
Set in Regency-era England, the Dashwoods must go through trials and tribulations for a better future. The play follows Elinor, played by Malia Salvacion, and Marianne, played by Eleonora Layn — as they face sudden poverty after their father’s death. The sisters rely on resourcefulness, resilience and each other’s support to find their happiness.
The cast list was released on Nov. 9 with many actors from prior shows and many new faces.
Austen’s story follows the Dashwood family, after the family home and property are inherited by the sisters’ half brother, whose wife urges him to move them out. The Dashwoods are then sent to live on the distant estate of their cousin. The sisters have to adapt to all the changes of life in a new and unfamiliar place, and with all the new unfamiliar circumstances and romance that comes with it.
Lagodzinski, the interim Theatre Department coordinator, said Hamill’s adaptation introduces a fast-paced structure and modern comedic timing while preserving the novel’s themes.
“In many ways it looks like it’s very different from ‘Rocky Horror,’ but actually this particular adaptation is as if MTV existed in Jane Austen’s time,” Lagodzinski said. “It feels more like a music video, the scenes are very short, they’re very fast. The pacing of how people talk to each other is very quick. The modernization of it is in the pacing and the style of the comedy.”
With all these modern changes, “Sense and Sensibility” will still carry the message that Austen intended. It is a story about women struggling to live in an era of no female power or influence.
“You wind up getting a sense of how vulnerable women were in Jane’s time,” Lagodzinski said. “She doesn’t tear society apart, she just shows how people survive it and still find love, and magic, and move forward in their lives.”
The updated “Sense and Sensibility” grants students the opportunity to experience the story in a different light. It does not misrepresent the book, though, as Austen’s vision is preserved by Lagodzinski’s directing.
“I feel like this kind of version of Jane’s work is what she would’ve enjoyed seeing, something quicker, something that wasn’t designed to be self indulgent or dreary, but something light and fun and interesting,” Lagodzinski said. “I think that’s the important thing … it’s supposed to be a funny romantic comedy, sometimes a little sad. But in the end, love wins out.”
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TOP PHOTO: Sense and Sensibility, originally created by Jane Austen will be coming to Las Positas College in March of 2026. Based on the adaptation by Kate Hamill, and directed by interim Theater Department coordinator, Cynthia Lagodzinski. (Aaliyah Gholaminpour/Special to The Express)
Musa Ashraf is the Arts & Entertainment Editor. Follow him on X, @MusaZash.
