Two actors on stage for a play. Man in a navy blue suit, woman in a baby blue dress. They are speaking to each other.

James Carter as Mr. Darcy (single cast) and Elena Belen Shill as Elizabeth Bennet (MWF) in Pride and Prejudice at The Ruth Theatre, Pleasant Grove, UT.

Sep. 9, 2026

Kymberly Mellen (Assistant Professor of Acting, Theatre Department) directed a critically acclaimed, 92-performance production of Melissa Leilani Larson’s Pride and Prejudice at The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater’s Lindsay Legacy Theater in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

Following rehearsals from June 1 through Aug. 15, the production opened Aug. 17 and runs through Nov. 7, 2026, with a possible extension through Nov. 14. Its schedule encompasses seven to 10 performances per week. At approximately 350 seats per performance, the scheduled run represents an estimated audience capacity of 32,200. If additional matinees and the contemplated extension are activated, the production calendar allows up to 119 performances, increasing potential audience capacity to approximately 41,650.

The large acting company includes alternating casts for many principal roles, understudies, and ASL interpreters, supported by extensive technical, wardrobe, audio, lighting, automation, and backstage teams. Identity-conscious casting and ASL integration are central to the production: Deaf actor Anne Post Fife portrays Mrs. Bennet, with family members voicing her signed dialogue.

In a Sept. 1 Utah Theatre Arts Journal review, Maggie Dudley called the production “a marvelous and deeply moving theatrical experience” and Mellen’s direction “an extraordinary, layered success in approaching classic material with grace, warmth, and innovation.”