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'Sense and Sensibility'

posted 16 years ago by chobar
2 replies | jump to latest

I saw Lucy Boynton playing Margaret Dashwood in the first part of the new three-part adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility on BBC1 tonight. I was mesmerised by her screen presence and acting talent, not to mention her breathtaking beauty.

I have to admit that I was not previously familiar with the story of Sense and Sensibility, not having read the book or seen any previous adaptation. But my understanding is that the plot is mostly concerned with the lives of the two older Dashwood sisters, with the character of Margaret only playing a supporting role. Therein lies a problem. If Ms. Boynton steals the scenes in which she appears, the viewer's attention is diverted from the characters that they should be paying attention to. So although it is a very good thing for Ms. Boynton's career that she has been given a part in such a high-profile drama series, it could be, to a certain extent, detrimental to the actual drama.

I think, therefore, that it would be best all round if in future Ms. Boynton were only given leading roles - much as she was in the "early life" scenes in Miss Potter and in Ballet Shoes. That way, her stealing the viewer's attention would be entirely a positive thing. :)

[–] ali-babble 16 years ago

I think you're right. She completely upstaged the two older child actresses in Ballet Shoes even though she had the smallest part. And now in Sense and Sensibility she's drawing quite a bit of attention to herself playing a character which is mostly overlooked in the books simply because she's too young to marry and so isn't crucial for Austen's tales of love and marriage. But she probably won't feature much in the later half of the series, so it'll be difficult to steal scenes from her two 'older sisters' in this production.

Still, she appears to be a very talented young actress and I hope that she gets more roles because clearly she deserves them.

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[–] fantasyescapist 16 years ago

I haven't seen the previous adaptations either, seeing as I wasn't abig costume drama fan as a kid, but I was impressed by her perfomance too in Sense and Sensibility. Her acting reminds me of Freddie Highmore in some ways. Very promising.

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