Still Waiting for Your Mr. Darcy?
A romantic comedy about turning forty, letting go of fantasy, and discovering that the greatest love story might be your own.
JULY 24-26, 2026
LEE STRASBERG INSTITUTE
MARILYN MONROE MAINSTAGE
About the Play
What if Jane Austen showed up and told you to get over it?
Jenn has spent most of her life believing that somewhere out there is a real-life Mr. Darcy, the Regency dreamboat created by Jane Austen. But as she approaches forty, Jenn is forced to confront an uncomfortable question: what if the love she's pinning for isn't real?
On the eve of Jenn's 40th birthday, Jane Austen appears and attempts to rescue Jenn from herself. Together, they embark on a painfully honest journey about who the 40-year-old woman is supposed to be.
Reluctantly Ever Austen is a romantic comedy for anyone who has ever fallen in love with the myth of romance and discovered that that may be a giant lie.
Tickets & Dates
Plan your night with Reluctantly Ever Austen.
This Play Might
Be For You If…
✓ You're a Pride & Prejudice purist.
✓ You've read all of Jane Austen's novels, including the unfinished Sanditon.
✓ You're a member of JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America).
✓ You've attended a Regency or Bridgerton-themed ball.
✓You’ve watched the BBC Pride & Prejudice more times than you can count.
✓ You understand that six hours is an acceptable amount of time to spend discussing Mr. Darcy.
✓ You're a fan of Bridget Jones' Diary, Downton Abbey, or Bridgerton.
✓ You know that “Mr. Darcy would never” is a complete sentence.
✓ You know the steps to "Mr. Beveridge's Maggot."
Cast & Creators
Jenn Melyan
Playwright & Jenn
Jenn Melyan is a Taiwanese-American writer, educator, and personal essayist who has written about body liberation for publications like The Huffington Post. Jenn has spent 15 years as an elementary school teacher and has most recently completed a master’s degree in clinical psychology. She began her artistic journey as a classical trombonist and taiko performer at Oberlin College and also works as a plus-size model. A lifelong member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Jenn draws inspiration from Austen’s wit, romance, and enduring insights into human relationships. Reluctantly Ever Austen marks her debut as a playwright. Her second play, Her Way, was selected for the 2026 She Arts LA Summer Theater Festival and hit the stage in July 2026.
Meet the people bringing Reluctantly Ever Austen to life.
Elizabeth Guest
Director
Elizabeth Guest is an award-winning filmmaker who received a degree in film from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She has produced, written and directed numerous plays at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater one of which, "Nice Girls" was turned into a digital series by Funny or Die. She also wrote/directed/produced a comedic web series called "Guest Appearances" that won the Grand Jury Award at the Austin Film Festival and the Nashville Film Festival. She was named by Moviemaker Magazine one of "25 Screenwriters to Watch." She co-directed a short called "The First of Many" that won the best dramatic short film award at the Cinequest Film Festival. Her most recent play, "Sweeter' had two delightful runs at the Elysian Theater and Lyric Hyperion in Los Angeles. She is also a grateful member of the Director’s Unit of the famed Actors Studio in New York. Her debut feature film based on her award-winning web series “Guest Appearances" will be released later this year. She is very excited to direct Jenn Melyan's "Reluctantly Ever Austen" and to work with the entire team.
Jane Austen &
Creative Producer
Sophia Khan
A passionate international actress, writer, and producer with a penchant for Shakespeare and Sci-Fi, Sophia enjoys globetrotting and has lived in Pakistan, China, England, Italy, and the US. Unquenchable curiosity inspired her to earn degrees from Dartmouth, Harvard, and Yale and a certificate in Shakespearean Performance from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She stars in the video game PROJECT VESPERI and recently garnered a ‘Best Acting’ award at the Dark Comedy Film Festival. As a screenwriter, her feature-length and television scripts have ranked as Finalists and Semifinalists at CineStory, in the top 10% of the Academy Nicholl Fellowship and Slamdance, and reached the Final Round at the Sundance Lab. Together with her husband Joey De La Cruz, Sophia formed SHAKABOOM, a soul-centered production house that seeks to provoke, enthrall, and uplift the world through storytelling. They have produced award-winning shorts and are actively developing two features and a TV series. Sophia has loved Jane Austen since the tender age of 10 and is most humbled and honored to tread the boards in her hallowed shoes.
Matthew Aberly
Everyman
Matthew earned his BFA in Acting from the School of Dramatic Arts at USC. Fight On! Most recently in Los Angeles, he starred in A Brief Period of Time and is adapting the play into a feature film. Matthew - along with his lovely wife, Caroline Haskins - co-founded Friday Night Studios, which strives to produce theatre and film that makes for a great Friday night. Matthew is thrilled to flounce around. Thank you for supporting live theatre!
Horecee St. Cyr
Executive Producer
Horecee St.Cyr is a multidisciplinary producer, actor, and voice artist whose work lives at the intersection of storytelling, culture, and community. Rooted in the West Coast and sharpened at Howard University, she moves fluidly between worlds: artist and producer, performer and strategist, storyteller and observer.
Her producing credits span the BET Awards, Amazon Prime's Yearly Departed, the 2025 Critics Choice Top 10 play The Year We Disappeared, and the 2026 High Risk Fashion Show. As Voice of God and featured voice-over artist for the NAACP Image Awards and Creative Honors Awards Show, her voice has literally taken center stage.
On screen credits include American Horror Story, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and NCIS: Las Vegas. A trained dancer at her core, she brings fluidity, intention, and joy to every discipline she touches.
Founder of Salt & Seed Creative House, Horecee is currently in development on two original feature films — devoted to one mission: creating work that is bold, sustainable, and deeply human.
A Note from the Playwright
Reluctantly Ever Austen began with an invitation.
A few years ago, a friend encouraged me to take a playwriting class and explore whether I had a story to tell. At the time, I wasn’t entirely sure what that story would be. But around the same period, I found myself having increasingly hilarious and bewildering conversations with friends about dating, body counts, modern romance, and why finding a healthy relationship sometimes felt far more complicated than Jane Austen ever led me to believe.
I was also nursing a crush on someone who didn’t feel the same way. As I tried to make sense of that disappointment, I found myself returning to familiar comforts: Jane Austen novels, romantic comedies, and, naturally, Mr. Darcy. Somewhere in the middle of all this, I had an uncomfortable realization: I knew far more about Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice than most people probably should. I could discuss different Darcy adaptations at length, quote scenes from memory, and explain Regency courtship customs to unsuspecting friends. It genuinely hadn’t occurred to me that not everyone spent this much time thinking about fictional characters written over two hundred years ago.
As I approached forty, those funny conversations started giving way to bigger questions. What happens when life doesn’t unfold the way you imagined? What do we do with the dreams that never materialise? How do we let go of people who don’t love us back, futures that never arrived, or stories we’ve been telling ourselves for years?
Reluctantly Ever Austen grew out of those questions. It’s a romantic comedy, a love letter to Jane Austen, and an exploration of the gap between fantasy and reality. Most of all, it’s about discovering that happily-ever-after isn’t something we find, it’s something we create.
Thank you for being here. I hope you laugh, I hope you recognize a little of yourself in Jenn’s journey, and I hope you leave the theater feeling a little more hopeful about your own story.
— Jenn Melyan
Stay in the Loop
Get updates about performances, ticket releases, and future Austen-inspired mischief.