EMMA. To 28 May.

Basingstoke

EMMA
by Jane Austen adapted by Doon Mackichan and Martin Millar

Haymarket Theatre To 28 May 2005.
MonSat 7.45 pm Mat 12, 28 May 2pm
Audio-described 21 May
BSL Signed 17th May
Runs 2hr 17min One Interval

TICKETS: 0870 770 1088
www.haymarket.org.uk
Review Mark Courtice: 9 May

The Art of Coarse Austen.Jane Austen sits at her desk, as a gang of nieces gambol at her feet ready to tell Emma Woodhouse's story for her. Emma emerges from beneath the floor boards and we are away on a story of love, misunderstanding and marriage, told in an uncomfortable mixture of contemporary English and Jane Austen's own words.

There is an air of desperation about this enterprise as if both adaptors and director don't believe that a 21st century audience can cope with the original. Gags are based on deliberate anachronisms; embarrassingly, the giggling girls constantly recap the story-so-far as if we can't follow a plot for 20 minutes, and weak sight gags like the letters that appear from thin air are badly timed and crudely underscored with clumsy sound effects.

The best element comes from Janet Bird's designs. The girls wear dresses that are high waisted and see through (so far so Austen) but are underpinned by low cut jeans and trainers. The set's a long perspective cloudscape, pastel shaded with clever shutters working smoothly across the stage, creating interiors when needed. At stages an unblinking eye is projected across the whole set.

The eye is a good tribute to Jane Austen's unsparing view, but her clarity, humour and understanding are lost in the confused and confusing romping.

Much of the acting is coarse as actors flit from character to character, the notable exception being Zoë Aldrich as Jane Austen/Mr Knightley. She gets the rectitude and the humanity and does not let the story-telling deflect the character line.

If you don't believe that Jane Austen is interesting enough for a 21st Century audience, then leave her stuff in the novels and do a play about something else. In this slight and daft adaptation both adaptors and director clearly trust neither the material nor the audience.

Jane Austen/Mr Knightley: Zoë Aldrich
Niece 1/Miss Bates: Leah Muller
Niece 2/Jane Fairfax: Katherine Kerrow
Niece 3/Mrs Weston/Mrs Elton: Chloe Newsome
Niece 4/Harriet Smith: Rebecca Keatley
Mr Woodhouse/Robert Martin/Mr Elton/Mrs Coles: Chris Larner
Frank Churchill: Edward MacLiam
Emma Woodhouse: Leila Crerar

Director: John Adams
Designer: Janet Bird
Lighting: Simon Hutchings
Sound: John Greet
Choreographer: Beverley Edmunds

2005-05-17 15:04:23