Padua Franciscan High School is proud to announce our 2026 fall play, Sense and Sensibility…and Margaret, with performances set for November 13, 14, and 15.
Sense and Sensibility…and Margaret is an adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic, Sense and Sensibility. Written by Padua Director of Student Life Rebecca (Gellott) Simna, this adaptation tells the stories of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood through the eyes of their younger sister, Margaret.
In her early twenties and looking to write her first novel, Margaret tells the story of her sisters’ lives to a close friend with humor heartfelt observations, and some playful interruption. Despite saying she “shall never pen a romance,” Margaret suggests love stories are heroic adventures.
“It was hard for me to get into that and figure out a way to tell that,” Simna said. “Then, it kind of hit me that they have a third sister in this book. She’s very young. She disappears for like 180 pages. She’s very, very minor, but I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if, as the framing approach, to have Margaret older, and she’s writing her first book?’ She’s telling her whole family’s story as if she’s older and beyond the events of Sense and Sensibility and telling her sister’s story as her new novel.”
Auditions for the fall play have been held, and casting was done early in the school year to give the actors plenty of time to rehearse and for the set to be constructed ahead of the mid-November performances.
After the early rehearsals, Fall Play Director Liz Malloy ’11 said the response from students participating in Sense and Sensibility…and Margaret have been positive.
“We had a great turnout, a lot of returning veterans, faces you’ll be familiar with if you’ve attended our productions in the past, but a significant number of new faces, those freshmen and sophomores who are new to the program and excited to be on stage,” Malloy said.
Last year’s fall play, Dracula, The Vampire Play, featured unique elements with special makeup work that needed to be done to mimic the wounds Dracula leaves on his victims and a fog machine used to help announce Dracula’s arrival.
While the Wayne F. Miller Center for Performing Arts is being constructed, Padua’s fall play will be done as a High Tea-style production, which promises to be a more interactive experience for audience and actors alike.
“There will be the courses of a High Tea, so it’s a little more experiential than it has been in the past, which means there’s a lot more character interactions,” Malloy said. “All of our cast, the Dashwood sisters included, will be serving tables for tea, and dancing among the tables, and passing letters through the tables. As an audience member, it’s going to be a different experience than what we’ve been able to provide before because we’re adapting to all the space changes this year.”
“As we’ve done with our productions in the past, we’re tapping other groups to support us. All the graphic design for all our sets, which will be virtual this year, are coming through the art program here, so it’ll all be student created. We’re also tapping into groups like Crochet Club to teach our students some of those hand skills that the ladies of the time would have needed to know.”
This year’s fall play production of Sense and Sensibility…and Margaret will mark the Ohio premiere of the play.
Showtimes
- Friday, November 13, 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, November 14, 7:30 p.m.
- Sunday, November 15, 1:30 p.m.
Ticket on-sale date is TBA.
