From the lady-like world of Jane Austen to Cork's stage
The novelist’s wittiest, most dramatic and poignant scenes will be brought to life by actors Vanessa Hyde, Judy Donovan and Kate McSwiney-O’Rourke. The show also draws from Austen’s letters, providing a biographical backdrop to one of the English language’s most popular and enduring writers. If she were alive today, Curtin reckons that Austen would be wealthier than JK Rowling.
The show received its first outing at Fota House last year when it was performed as a 70-minute piece for Culture Night. It started off as a small project that Vanessa Hyde was involved in for UCC’s English department’s celebration of the bicentennial anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice. But that show was cancelled. However, Curtin and Hyde decided to expand the show for Culture Night. It was a success, attracting a largely female audience that included a lot of young people.
Now, Ladies of Jane is a full length show that features characters such as Elizabeth Bennett, Emma Woodhouse, Elinor Dashwood, Mrs Norris and Anne Elliot. “Persuasion is my favourite book,” says Curtin. “It’s the only true love story that Austen ever wrote. While Elizabeth Bennett was in love with Mr Darcy, she only became more in love with him when she saw his big house. Anne Eliott [in Persuasion] is genuinely in love with a man who doesn’t have money. When Frederick Wentworth goes away and makes his fortune, he becomes a prestigious person. Anne’s mother’s friend had tried earlier to put Anne off marrying him. When he returns, Anne is older and terribly unsure of herself. At the time the book was written, a woman felt old at 28. But of course, there’s a happy ending.”
In putting together Ladies of Jane, Curtin was clear that she didn’t want it to be a history lesson. “I’ve included interesting facts about Austen and her life. She was a quiet person who lived her life in a village [Steventon in North Hampshire] which today, has only 250 inhabitants. The village was a microcosm of the world for Austen. She wrote about the people she knew [without using her name]. She had a great sense of humour and was quite radical in her thinking.”
Austen fell in love with Thomas Lefroy who became the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. “But his family put him off Austen because her family had no money. Austen lived in genteel poverty and was sent away to boarding school when she was very young to make room in the house for lodgers.”
In the show, the actors recite passages from Austen’s six novels and become the various heroines, using links to tie the narration together.
“If you like language which Austen uses so elegantly, you’ll enjoy the show. Austen’s writing has great charm.”
The show includes Austen’s interaction with her sister, Cassandra. “In Sense and Sensibility, Marianne and Elinor are very much based on Cassandra and Jane.”
The show, produced by Pat Talbot Productions in association with Empire Line Productions, will see the actors attired in Regency costumes. The set is designed by Jim Queally.
Ladies of Jane opens on Wednesday night. Scenes from the work of Jane Austen adapted for the stage by Mary Curtin and Vanessa Hyde.
— Cork Arts Theatre (@Corkartstheatre) March 31, 2014
Such is Austen’s humane and humorous writing that Pride and Prejudice was one of the most requested books by men in the trenches during World War 1. For a contemporary audience, Ladies of Jane is all about Austen’s astute characterisation, wit and romantic intrigue.
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