Jane Austen’s House in Chawton has just opened a new exhibition called Staging Pride and Prejudice which will run throughout 2026.

In the 1920s and 1930s a slew of theatrical adaptations of Pride and Prejudice were performed and published, paving the way for the first big screen version in 1940.

Looking back to the Bright Young Things of the 1930s, this exhibition focuses on the most successful of those first productions - a sparky adaptation by Helen Jerome entitled Pride and Prejudice: A Sentimental Comedy in Three Acts.

It enjoyed long runs on Broadway and in the West End in 1935-36, and helped to shape the way the novel is still viewed today.

The exhibition has been co-curated by Devoney Looser, Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University.

Devoney has published widely on Jane Austen, including her most recent book Wild for Austen.

In her book The Making of Jane Austen, she explores the people and performances which shaped Jane Austen’s legacy, with a particular focus on the 1935 stage performance of Colin Keith-Johnston as the first “sexy Darcy”.

Sophie Reynolds, the head of collections, interpretation and events at Jane Austen’s House, said: “In the 1930s, a ground-breaking stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice hit Broadway and the West End, enchanting audiences, inspiring a Hollywood movie and introducing the world to the idea that Mr Darcy could be a sexy, smouldering leading man.

“It also established Pride and Prejudice as theatrical gold - which it still is today, with many new theatre productions taking place this year, all over the world.”

The Staging Pride and Prejudice exhibition is free with house entry. An online exhibition is available at https://janeaustens.house/, which will also have details of various Jane Austen festivals running in the house at different times throughout the year.