Pride & Prejudice (*sort of) is currently on the road on a hugely successful UK tour. Among the company taking on its gender-flipped, multi-role format is Julia Murray, playing both the anxious matriarch Mrs Bennet and the brooding Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Asked which of the two she’s closer to on any given Tuesday morning, Murray doesn’t overthink it. “Mrs Bennet has a special connection to me for no particular reason,” she laughs. “The glass-full-of-mum-anxiety, entire-personality-devoted-to-marrying-her-daughters thing – that’s not hard to channel.”
The quick-change demands of playing both, she says, are relentless: “Every single time you leave the stage, someone is changing and it comes straight back on. I’ve got one change where I have a single line to do it in. It’s chaos.”
For Mrs Bennet’s main-character energy and total lack of self-awareness, Murray draws on “some formidable women in my life” – family members and, memorably, old dance teachers. Darcy has demanded a different kind of homework entirely. “Honestly, physicality is the big challenge,” she explains. “I learned quickly how much we tend to make our bodies very apologetic – and a man like him, so high status, just doesn’t apologise. Knowing where to hold your power and your strength is alien to me, but really interesting.”
Murray’s connection to the show runs deep: she saw it on its first UK tour in Edinburgh years ago and was floored by it, with a close friend in the original cast. “I honestly forgot how good it was – so slick, so clean,” she says. “And here I am now, in the church on the second week of rehearsals.” Progress has been fast: “We were straight into chemises and boots and costume from about day two. Normally it’s tech before you’re doing that – that was a real surprise.”
Trained in musical theatre at Scotland’s Royal Conservatoire and a veteran of Scottish stage work – including a two-hander with a loop station and covering on the Wild Rose stage adaptation – Murray is especially looking forward to the tour opening in her home city. “Glasgow audiences are amazing, especially at the Pavilion – right on Sauchiehall Street, a rowdy bit of town. It’s going to be brilliant.”
What’s struck her most in rehearsals is how quickly the company has bonded, covers included. “That’s so nice, especially for comedy – when you’re putting yourself out there, it really helps that it’s such a warm room.” Her touring survival kit leans practical: “Your own space – don’t be afraid to take it. And mint tea. Good for digestion, good for sleep, calming.”
Her advice to young actors: “Be unique. Respect everyone in the room, be kind and open – but find what makes you individually yourself, because that’s your strength.”
:: Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of) returns to play Lighthouse from Tuesday 26 to Saturday 30 January. Tickets available now at https://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/event/pride-and-prejudice-sort-of/ and on 01202 280000.
Interview by Carl Woodward