A line-dancing Pride & Prejudice plays The Stag, Sevenoaks, three times on 7 and 8 November. Tickets £35 plus a £1.50 fee, and there are no fixed seats.

A version of Pride & Prejudice where the audience learns to line dance and then joins the Bennets on the dance floor is coming to The Stag in Sevenoaks on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November. Pride & Prejudice: The Hoedown Edition, from the Surrey company Best Life Productions, plays three times over the weekend: at 1.30pm and 7pm on the Saturday and at 1.30pm on the Sunday.

It moves Jane Austen’s novel into Mrs Bennet’s saloon in a 1930s Wild West, according to the show’s ticket page. There is a drink on arrival and a short line-dancing lesson (“no experience needed!”, the company promises), and then Lizzie, Darcy and the rest of the cast play out the story around the room. It finishes on the dance floor with performers and audience together. “Of course there’s a wedding! This is Jane Austen,” the company’s press release says.

Why a hoedown?

A saloon seems an odd place for Regency manners. Producer Claire Zuurbier says the setting suits the book better than people expect:

“When people think about Pride & Prejudice, they often think about the romance. But Austen’s stories are fundamentally social. The dances, assemblies, dinners and gatherings are where relationships are formed, misunderstandings unfold and lives are changed.

“In many ways, Austen was always writing immersive experiences. We’ve simply taken that idea and invited audiences to be part of it.”

Cast card for Pride and Prejudice: The Hoedown Edition showing six headshots: Charlotte Farrer as Lizzie, Filippo Brozzo as Darcy, Amaya Clarke as Lydia and Mr Collins, Ata Dirilgen as Wickham and Mrs Bennet, and Eleanor Bayford and Joseph Burdge as swing and ensemble
The company: Charlotte Farrer (Lizzie), Filippo Brozzo (Darcy), Amaya Clarke (Lydia and Mr Collins), Ata Dirilgen (Wickham and Mrs Bennet), with Eleanor Bayford and Joseph Burdge as swing and ensemble. Image: supplied by Best Life Productions.

Who is in it

Six actors share the roles, according to the cast card on the company’s ticket page. Charlotte Farrer plays Lizzie and Filippo Brozzo plays Darcy. Amaya Clarke doubles as Lydia and Mr Collins, and Ata Dirilgen doubles as Wickham and Mrs Bennet. Eleanor Bayford and Joseph Burdge are the swings who cover the other parts.

The Sevenoaks ticket page says the swings take the leads at the Saturday evening show: “On the 7th November 7.30pm performance, the role of Lizzie will be played by Eleanor Bayford and the role of Darcy will be played by Joseph Burdge.” The booking system lists that slot as 7pm to 11pm.

Three photographs of women in pink cowboy hats laughing and raising glasses of fizz at a bar
Audience members in cowboy hats raising a glass at the bar. Photo: supplied by Best Life Productions.

“Leave their worries at the door”

The company says it built the show around people doing something together, not sitting in rows watching from a distance.

“We wanted to create something more immediate, more visceral and more joyful,” Zuurbier said. “A few hours where people can leave their worries at the door, laugh together, dance together and simply have fun.”

She thinks that sense of sharing is part of why the book has lasted:

“One of the lovely things about Pride & Prejudice is that it’s often shared. A mother introduces a daughter to Austen, friends recommend it to one another, and book clubs return to it time and again. We love the idea that people can discover this version together, whether they’ve adored Darcy for decades or are meeting him for the very first time.”

Three photographs of an audience line dancing under coloured lights, some in cowboy hats and fringed waistcoats
Line dancing on a crowded floor under coloured lights. Photo: supplied by Best Life Productions.

The press release also calls the show a meeting of two fan bases, and says both Austen and country culture are enjoying renewed popularity. As for boots alongside corsets, Zuurbier said: “The essence of Pride & Prejudice has always been people meeting, connecting and navigating relationships. Those themes are timeless. We’ve simply moved the party to a different dance floor.”

What to expect on the night

Come ready to stand. The ticket page says the action moves around the room, “to allow room for dancing there is no fixed guaranteed seating”, and your view will change as the scenes move. The actors wear microphones so you can hear them from anywhere in the room. The page suggests the show for groups, birthdays or people going on their own, and tells guests to “dust off the cowboy boots”.

You can throw yourself in or hang back. In the company’s release for its Woking dates, Zuurbier said: “It’s immersive, but it isn’t intimidating. You can throw yourself into the dancing or simply enjoy watching everything happening around you.”

Three photographs: a performer in a black cowboy hat and waistcoat, and audience members dancing under pink and purple lights
A performer in a black cowboy hat and waistcoat, and dancers under the disco lights. Photo: supplied by Best Life Productions.

Times and tickets

The ticket page lists the venue as Stag Plaza, TN13 1ZZ. Prices as listed on the Sevenoaks booking page on 30 September 2026, the same for all three performances:

  • Saturday 7 November, 1.30pm to 5.30pm
  • Saturday 7 November, 7pm to 11pm (Eleanor Bayford as Lizzie, Joseph Burdge as Darcy)
  • Sunday 8 November, 1.30pm to 5.30pm
  • General admission: £35 plus a £1.50 booking fee (£36.50)
  • Groups of four to eight: £31.50 each plus £1.50 (£33)
  • Groups of nine or more: £29 each plus £1.50 (£30.50)
Yellow poster for Pride and Prejudice: The Hoedown Edition, billed as an immersive line-dancing experience, with four performers in Western costume
The poster for Pride & Prejudice: The Hoedown Edition. Image: supplied by Best Life Productions.

The rest of the tour

Sevenoaks is one of six stops on the autumn tour. The first performance is a preview at Labyrinth in Epsom on Saturday 17 October. The ticket page says the company is “Surrey-based” and wanted to open where it “could count on” its audience. After that the show plays the Fiery Bird at the Phoenix Cultural Centre in Woking (23 October, 27 November and 12 December), The Roxy in Soho (24 October, 28 November and 19 December), The Bedford in Balham (30 October and 1 November) and The Fable in the City of London (14 November, with brunch).

The company is on Instagram as @dancepartytheatre. For more on the venue, see our report on The Stag’s £100,000 freehold appeal. Other weekend events are in What’s on in Sevenoaks.