Northanger Abbey - Tour

[bee]

This is quite an odd adaptation of the Jane Austen story, carried off with lots of energy and commitment by the three-person cast. It's not really a spoof but there are lots of funny moments and many of the characters are played so as to be ridiculous stereotypes. In a way it reminded me somewhat of The Tragedy of Madame Bovary from Jermyn Street last year.

It does have one particular plot twist which isn't in the book, and which leads to a couple of quite poignant scenes, and I found the ending a bit confusing. On the whole though, I enjoyed it. Three and a half to four stars from me.

[kate8]

I didn’t like this at all. I felt all the knowing jokiness was too much and often repetitive. It crowded out the genuine emotions, so I just didn’t care about the characters.

[tmesis]

I didn’t like it either. It’s trying much too hard to be clever and funny and wasn’t either.

[adamkinsey]

Evening Standard review said "Austen would thoroughly approve".

Am pretty sure she wouldn't have, actually and I thought it was pretty poor. A pity, as the Orange Tree has had a pretty good success rate of late. I'm sure Uncle Vanya will be up to snuff.

[missbabs]

Enjoyed this very much. Great fun but with heart too. I must admit the thought of a 'retelling' didn't appeal to me much but they pull it off!

At Orange Tree until 24 February and then onto the Bolton Octagon.