The story told in Pride And Prejudice of the Bennet family, centred as it is on the relationship between the proud aristocrat Fitzwilliam Darcy and the high-spirited Elizabeth Bennet, is one of the most enduringly popular novels of all time and has had a far-reaching influence on all romantic fiction right up to the present day.

Jane Austen described Elizabeth Bennett as "quite the most delightful creature as ever appeared in print". Tens of millions agree, and it is the closest the author came to true romantic comedy. The determination of the bright and sparkilng Elizabeth to dislike Mr Darcy is matched only by his arrogant pride.

The musical has eleven fantastic roles for women (most with solos), from the dim Mrs Bennett, to feisty Elizabeth and her four other daughters, to the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh and the bitchy Caroline Bingley. For the men, the six principal roles include the complex and challenging part of Mr Darcy, and a classic part for a comic actor in Mr Collins.

Bernard J Taylor's musical follows the plot and characterisation closely enough to suit those who can quote every line of Jane Austen's book, while telling the story plainly enough to entertain the few who don't know it. A show with 32 songs and a number of prominent roles for old and young, that also has plenty of chorus work. It has been staged numerous times with great success for the companies concerned.