Austentacious!
Three actors. Six novels. Countless romances, scandals, and witticisms — all in sixty minutes!
Written By Jessica Bedford, Kathryn MacMillan, Charlotte Northeast & Megan Winch, directed by Ali Bendall, THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JANE AUSTEN (ABRIDGED) follows the universally acknowledged conceit of a play within a play. At the beginning of the performance, two Janeites, Ali and Georgia, must train up a clueless actor to play all the male parts.
There is conflict between Ali and Georgia from the beginning with Ali reckoning Pride and Prejudice the best of the Austen books while Georgia champions Persuasion. Those with sense and sensibility will know which corner they stand in.
Poor Peter drops the clanger that the Abbey at Northanger gets his vote, although there may be confusion over an infusion of Downton Abbey. Misconceptions abound when Austen’s texts run aground on cinematic and televisual adaptations, testing the the purity of the prose against pictorial presentation in the contemporary mind.
Ali Bendall and Georgia Britt are colossally engaging as the sparring Janeites, energising Austen’s women with comic flair, physical agility and a certain savior faire.
Peter Hoekstra-Bass casts a marvellous regency in his once more into the breeches portrayal of the Austen men – the charmy, the smarmy, and the barmy. He’s also press-ganged into drag playing a dragon aunt with aplomb.
Added “performance” in this production that goes tantalising tits-up on occasion are provided by Technical Guru, Cian Byrne and Stage Manager, Harry Charlesworth.
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JANE AUSTEN (ABRIDGED) is like speed dating with the Bennett’s, dashing through the Dashwoods, and crashing through the Crawfords.
You don’t have to know your Fanny from your Darcy to enjoy this rom-com romp through this enduring cultural canon. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person in possession of a ticket is in good fortune.
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JANE AUSTEN (ABRIDGED) plays The Substation, 136 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst till September 5.
