Piccadilly Theatre – 5 December, 23 January, 13 February. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
Mr Darcy would be horrified at such impropriety – the private affairs of a Regency family lampooned for all to see in the heart of London’s West End. Austentatious is a fantastically irreverent, improvised take on the social etiquette of Regency England, continuing Jane Austen’s original ironic commentaries.
The conceit of presenting Austen’s hundreds of lost novels is a treasure trove of inspiration for the company, with each audience coming up with new ideas that are briefly explored – alas, Lord Picklewick’s Dirty Secret could not be performed because of a super injunction. Past productions have included The Sixth Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Shark and Double 0 Darcy.
The novel I saw performed was We Need To Talk About Emma – a tale of an enigmatic lady with a mysterious and possibly shameful past whose connection with the “death” of Mrs Forsyth halts her romance with Gerald Forsyth.
The cast of six stick to Austen conventions, throwing in the odd curveball – seemingly for the sole purpose of making their fellow actors corpse – and developing a heap of running jokes. Calling the family Forsyth leads to all sorts of Brucie and Strictly gags – they even threw in a conveyor belt at one stage!
The cast are obviously having as much fun as the audience, belly laughs and groans being a constant soundtrack to the evening. There are some ideas that don’t work, but the cast are quick to pounce on these and ridicule them with glee. Accompanied by onstage musicians who never miss a cue to change musical style or tempo, the whole production is a triumph of wit and wits. Grab your ticket for Austentatious’ next show today.