Of the 952 works of Jane Austen that have been sadly lost to history, the Austentatious team are thrilled to enact one of these at every show. Enjoying an intermittent Monday night run at Leicester Square Theatre during May and June, these imaginary page to stage adaptations will not be performed twice, so if you miss this landmark production of Northanger Aunty then sadly it will never be seen again, although another one will be along next week.
For those lucky enough to attend this world premiere production, this entirely made-up tale of a wealthy aunt whose wind farm investments set her apart from her coal-mining landowner family when she marries for a third time, is a riot of Austen-esque themes and deliberately anachronistic nonsense. With sibling rivalry, several unexpected memory flashbacks and a Russian oil subplot that is a bit too contemporary, Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel hits the cheeky homage sweet spot.
The rules are established early on by a leading Austen academic (cast member Lauren Shearing in an academic gown) who scandalously gives one of Britain’s most famous novelists a drinking problem, a suitor-appraising podcast and reveals unexpected details of her birth in Leicester Square. Once the audience has shouted out the titles of some of Austen’s lesser-known lost works, Northanger Aunty is coincidentally the one the cast have prepared – except everything is made up on the spot with, we are assured, no dialogue, scenarios or characters planned in advance.
Shearing and fellow cast members including regulars Amy Cook-Hodgson, Charlotte Gittins, Joseph Morpurgo and Rachel Parris take their cues from one another, allotting characters to themselves and each other while knowing almost by instinct who will appear in the next scene. No one has much idea where that scene will take them, but it keeps the action flowing smoothly with no unnecessary pauses, while any gaffs and goofs are woven into proceedings.
Accomplished improvisation performers, the cast also draw spontaneous connections across the show, remembering characteristics and details from earlier moments to try and keep the story on track or add a different dimension, while lots of the humour comes from the team riffing across scenes and trying to put each other on the spot = more than one dramatic letter is passed around before someone invents what it contains.
There is a 20-minute interval which might be cheating, giving the cast their only chance to regroup. Cynics might believe this is where the team could shape the remainder of show rather than respond in the moment, and instead find a way to bring together the elaborate layers of subplot that have been created before the second half is performed. If that happens, it is not obvious in part two and while there is some rounding off to be done, the impulsive storytelling continues.
With all improvisation shows, that is the point at which the energy starts to flag and Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel is no different. With too many characters, backstories and loose ends to tie up, these do get away from the group at times and there is a scramble for a suitable ending which by this point, by necessity, usually requires a sufficiently dramatic death or intervention to call time on the story.
But the show is full of Austen characteristics, marriage, wealth, gender roles and a scandalous villain. No male hero in Northanger Aunty though but that just offers an empowered ending for the female characters. We may never know the outcomes of Mr Romford’s neck wound, Melanie’s fire-laying skills or the fate of poor Suzanne, but the Austentatious team will have unearthed another lost classic next time.
Runs until 27 June 2022
