“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

Reading this famous opening sentence of Pride And Prejudice nearly two hundred years after it was written, one could suggest that time has left Jane Austen behind. That is, of course, if one takes such a line seriously. Donna Dent, who stars as the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet in James Maxwell’s adaptation of the novel at the Gate, certainly doesn’t.

“When it comes to the idea of any of the themes in Pride And Prejudice being out-dated I’m probably luckiest of all in the play because my character was way ahead of her time. She wants to marry for love and doesn’t allow herself to be oppressed by the structures in society at the time, which dictate that you should marry according to questions of position, property, class.

“Mr. D’Arcy proposes to her and explains ‘you’ll understand the disappointment of my family, on my marrying an inferior’ and she tells him, basically, to forget it. She doesn’t buy any of that nonsense. So that first line sums up her sardonic view of life. It’s a humorous, maybe even subversive look at one of society’s tendencies at the time.”

This sardonic and subversive tendency was also reflected in the life of Jane Austen herself, says Donna.

“In fact, I’d see Jane Austen as reflecting the beginning of feminism,” she suggests. “So my job is to be true to both Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Austen. And one reason for that is a sense of duty I feel to Jane Austen because I’ve always felt that she was so far ahead of her time herself. And, to me, this comes across most strongly in the character of Elizabeth, in Pride And Prejudice, who propels the play forward in so many ways, especially in relation to her attitudes.”

Securing such a pivotal role in the Gate’s production of this play is a major break for Donna Dent whose previous work includes a role in Roddy Doyle’s Family as well as stage productions such as A Slice Of Saturday Night. Though she auditioned for director Alan Stanford with the usual level of hope in her heart she almost “died with shock” on hearing she got the part, she claims.

“In fact, I went out and got drunk,” she recalls, laughing. “But although many people are saying this is my Big Break I’d rather wait five years then look back and be able to say, with certainty – or not – whether this was the part that opened all the doors for me. For the moment I’d only say it’s a great opportunity to show what I can do.

“As things stand, I really feel like the new kid on the block in the Gate, working with actors such as Stephen Brennan, Joan O’Hara and so on. But it’s a hell of a challenge!”

Also Recommended: Also opening this week is Anne Enright’s first stage production You Should Thank God, Fasting For The Love Of A Good Man. Here the irony in the title is obvious and one assumes the play maintains a similar tone as it follows the lives of three women as they move from the age of reading Just Seventeen to Cosmopolitan. And how is their situation summed up by Anne? As “Gayle, who can’t get out of bed, Bernie who can’t get into it and Fiona who usually ends up with a video, a take-away and Barry on a Friday night (if he rings).” Thank God . . . runs at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin until December 10th.