What a nifty thing, to find that the author of Winnie the Pooh was a fan of Jane Austen and even wrote an early play version of Pride & Prejudice!
This is a splendid way to rediscover the story. Just enough minor adjustments to make it feel fresh and to make one enjoy the building suspense, even if one does know the story already.
Milne has added a few scenes, condensed and combined others, and dispensed with some, letting certain things take place off-stage.
Things he added that I thought were particularly good:
* Bingley and Jane conversing in a ballroom (Austen never gives us this, which I didn't realize until now). It's nice, shows Bingley exhilarated and trying to sparkle in the company of the girl he admires.
* Darcy's conversation with Bingley about Jane's unfortunate family connections, and his insinuation that she doesn't really care that much for Bingley, followed by their plan to leave Netherfield for London.
* Mr. Collins' proposal to Charlotte Lucas!!!!
* A sort-of invitation from Darcy, that Elizabeth should visit Pemberley sometime. I thought this was nice, although since he offers it before his first proposal, she still feels awkward when she and her uncle & aunt visit Pemberley later. But, anyway, the fact that he had offered the invitation was one of the things that made you start to warm up to him instead of just focusing on his pride.
* Darcy explains to Elizabeth verbally the contents of his letter, pretty much right after she rejects him (this felt a little unlikely, but I grant that it would have been even less natural to try to work that kind of a letter into a stage-play).
* Darcy's negotiations with Wickham

A good deal of the dialogue is straight from the book, but Milne has also added a fair amount, and every bit of it is witty, appropriate and feels the most like Jane Austen that I have ever read, compared to other attempts to imitate her voice. Skillful! Yes, there are plenty more zingers in here that are worthy of Austen.

A lot of the happenings in the book get very much condensed so that, for instance, conversations that normally took place at different times in several different settings, appear within one scene. But this is the only way to do it when creating a basic stage-play. It helps create a nice, quick-moving pace that I think a play audience would appreciate.

Unfortunately, for most people this book will be insanely hard to access. A few libraries have it. But there are no electronic versions, and it won't be in the public domain for a while yet. Maybe someone should start a petition to publish a new edition!! I think it would be well received, and it definitely would be entirely valid as a play, right now, this minute: it could be produced and enjoyed as easily as when first published. ( )