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Novel look at Austen's women




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The many female characters and heroines of Jane Austen’s novels are brought to life in a one-woman show.

Austen’s Women, written and performed by Rebecca Vaughan, will be at the Palace Theatre, Newark, on Thursday, April 15, at 8pm.

Rebecca, 32, said: “The show is an amalgamation of 14 of her characters — her most famous heroines and some lesser known characters as well — and I play them all.

“The play is pieced together using the words of Jane Austen and a narrator, who I also play.”

The idea for the show came when Rebecca was working with director Guy Masterson.

He discovered her love of Jane Austen and suggested she write something as a possible project they could do together.

Rebecca said: “This is the end result. I was able to read all her novels again and it took me about six to seven months to put together.

“The play lasts 70 minutes so there is no interval and I wear Regency costumes, designed and handmade for me by Kate Flanaghan.

“The play starts with the narrator being in her undergarments and during the show I add layers and layers until I am fully dressed.”

The set is also authentic, using a table from 1788 and a chair from 1805.

Austen’s Women was a huge success in Edinburgh last year. The show has been touring the UK and also featured at the Adelaide Festival in Australia.

Rebecca tours on her own, taking the set and costumes to each venue.

But it nearly backfired when her car broke down on the way from Darlington to Lyme Regis.

She had to persuade people to help her get to the theatre in time and ended up forcing the set into a Ford Ka.

“Another time was when the lighting board crashed and the stage was plunged into darkness,” she said.

“Luckily I have a candle on stage and managed to act around it and the audience thought it was part of the play.”

Rebecca will tour the show until next spring but is already working on her next piece about Elizabeth I, using her speeches, letters and poems as inspiration.

It will be called I, Elizabeth.



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