THE AUSTEN FAMILY LOVED ENTERTAINMENT, PLAYS AND GAMES. AS CHRISTMAS DRAWS NEAR, WE BRING YOU ENTERTAINMENT FROM OUR COMMUNITY, INCLUDING SENSE & SENSIBILITY PERFORMED WITH 8 ACTORS AND A DOOR.

Read about the making of Sense & Sensibility, from Director and Actor, Dr Daniel Widdowson. Scroll down for details and links to our Christmas entertainment:

• SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, PERFORMED WITH 8 ACTORS AND A DOOR

• SANDITON SEASON 2: PARKER BROTHER’S BUILD THE BOARDWALK, FILMED ON ZOOM

• JANE AUSTEN LITERACY FOUNDATION WRITING COMPETITION WINNING STORIES 2021, NARRATED BY ALISON LARKIN

Jane loved storytelling like reading out loud to entertain her friends and family. Just one of the many entertainments enjoyed by her close-knit, intelligent, and highly literate family. Her mother and brothers James and Henry wrote comic verse, charades, and riddles. Jane was about seven years old when theatricals with family and friends first began at Steventon Rectory; Dr Thomas Francklin’s Matilda is said to be the first play performed. Most of the plays were comedies, perhaps contributing to Jane’s wit and satire. Jane wrote three short plays during her teenage years and plays were woven into the fabric of Mansfield Park.

Christmas was a particularly social time, as it is today (pandemic aside), where friends and family gathered: the perfect time for a play! Jane’s cousin, Phila Walter, wrote in a letter in 1787, when Jane was 12, that Eliza de Feuillide (another cousin) was visiting the Austens in Steventon for Christmas and the family intended to act the plays Which is the Man and Bon Ton. Phila was happy to spectate but did not wish to act in the plays herself. Eliza begged her to come to Steventon, although she would have to act, ‘for my Aunt Austen declares “she has not room for any idle young people”.

At the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation, we celebrate different interpretations of Jane Austen’s novels, we applaud the inspiration she has given to writers, composers, actors, and directors to create new and exciting works, and we know that different versions and genres bring new people to the genius of Jane Austen.

In the spirit of Christmas with the Austens, we bring you some entertainment from our community, available free on our YouTube channel or on Audible.

Sense & Sensibility -

By Salt House Creative – An alternative and innovative adaptation of Jane’s first published novel, acted entirely using 8 actors and a door, recently performed and recorded in Australia. Director and Jane Austen Literacy Foundation Ambassador, Dr. Daniel Widdowson, shares more:

Austen’s Sense & Sensibility presents over twenty-five characters, in well over twenty varied places and spaces, hundreds of costumes, and thousands of props. Elinor has been played by international superstars such as Emma Thompson and Hattie Morahan. Edward by Dan Stevens and the dashing Hugh Grant. The story itself has been filmed and presented on stage on the West End and Broadway. It even has musical adaptations. So, attempting to present this much-loved story with only eight actors and a door was always going to be a most exciting and challenging journey.

Salt House Creative, as a production house, offers two streams for Australian actors. The professional branch is for established performers who have either completed a three-year training or have been in the industry for several years. The development branch is for everyone and anyone who wants to train and grow as an actor. Occasionally these two streams combine in a pro-am show. ‘Sense & Sensibility with 8 Actors & a Door’ is one of these rare occasions. Five of our eight actors are under the age of twenty-one with local acting credits to their name, one actor is currently studying his Bachelor of Performing Arts, and two are professionals working in the industry. Is it possible for this small team (with a simple door as a prop) to successfully present a highly entertaining interpretation of a Jane Austen classic?

Absolutely!

One of the great opportunities that theatre adaptations offer is the joy of playing. Just how many uses can an unhinged door have? How can such a small cast, wearing only stage blacks, portray a multitude of characters? We played in a black box space to work this out. It’s a beautiful and fascinating thing to watch actors freely explore their physical and vocal capacities in order to develop their creative potential. We give ourselves permission to try something new, there’s no such thing as ‘failing’ in this space, only learning. Over time each actor discovers new walks, gestures, voices, mannerisms, and eventually we create all the necessary characters.

The show is undoubtedly physically demanding as all the actors are on stage for the entirety of the performance. If you’re not playing a character, then you’re a desk, or a chair, or you’re supporting the door whilst it serves as a dinner table.

One time, early on in rehearsals, we attempted a run without doing the physical warm up… that was a big mistake, which I particularly felt, being the oldest cast member! It’s a magical feeling, being able to take to the stage with a small team and a single prop, determined to take the audience on a journey, to present them with an Austen interpretation that they would have never experienced previously. It takes an enormous amount of teamwork and trust, also belief that the audience will appreciate the comedic uniqueness of such a quirky performance. By the time we bow and exit the performance space, we’re totally drained, on a huge natural high, and also exhausted.

I know there will always be Jane Austen purists, and this is needed. In a sense, we acknowledge that no adaptation is designed to improve her work. She was an absolute master of storytelling. The excitement of adaptations is the opportunity to present Austen’s work to new audiences, people who may have never read her works, individuals who might enjoy the interpretation so much they may just seek out her original work and experience her genius for the first time. This is why I play with her texts. I admire Jane Austen as a remarkable storyteller, a social commentator, an amazing leader, a deep thinker, a reflector, and a comedian. I’m thankful to be an ambassador for the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation and I celebrate her works the best way I know how… through creativity.

I wish all the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation community a very merry Christmas x

© Dr. Daniel Widdowson, Artistic Director, Salt House Creative

Sanditon Season 2: Parker Brother’s Build The Boardwalk

By Carol Lisa O’Brien – Narrated by Caroline Jane Knight (our Founder & Chair), this 10-part fan made reimagining of the unfinished Sanditon story, is told in digital theatre, all filmed and produced by the power of zoom. You are guaranteed a happy ending for Sydney and Charlotte and can read more about the making of this production, from Carol Lisa O’Brien, here. Below is the trailer, click here to watch the first episode.

Jane Austen Literacy Foundation Winning Stories 2021 audiobook, narrated by Alison Larkin

Based on the theme "Connection", the second year of the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation short story writing competition received a phenomenal response, with entries from 29 countries. Three finalist stories were chosen by the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation judging panel and published online for a public vote to choose the winner. The winning story, "Mother & Daughter: A Last Walk" by Stephanie Percival, beautifully captures a moment of connection that touched our audience. "His Back" by Isidora Cortes-Monroy and "The Imaginary Friend" by Lucy Beresford were equally loved and complete this set of three very different but enjoyable stories. 

Beautifully read by Alison Larkin, award-winning narrator of The Complete Novels of Jane Austen and Jane Austen Literacy Foundation Ambassador, all proceeds from the sale of this audiobook will be donated to the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation.  Available on Audible here.  

We sincerely thank Dr Daniel Widdowson and Salt House Creative, Carol Lisa O’Brien, our Winning Stories 2021 authors and narrator Alison Larkin for giving us their creations and talent to share with you all.

The Foundation is closed from Christmas through to February each year, to give our wonderful team of volunteers and well-earned break. We wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy holidays and we look forward to seeing you in 2022.

© Caroline Jane Knight - Founder & Chair, Jane Austen Literacy Foundation