Emma

This adaptation of a classic was different from the first few words but worked well. The first thing I noticed was the striking set, made up of giant bookends of Jane Austen novels. Two of the actors played dual roles, Anne Deakin played Jane Austen and Mr. Knightley by the cleaver use of a wrap had the hardest job of the night playing both male and female characters. Richard Aucott played Mr. Woodhouse and Mr. Elton. Libby Allport had the job of playing three characters. The drama took place on a single set and the cast played out the characters in the book, read by Jane Austen. Michelle Dawes stood out for me as Emma Woodhouse, with good support for the four nieces’, Louise Farmer, Hayley Leaver, Bhupinder Dhamu and Suzy Donnelly. The four nieces are a good feature of this play. At the start of the production they appear as a girl band in dresses, pumps, coloured socks and sunglasses. Music also played a big part in this show from modern to Scottish Country Dancing. Although this production is dominated by females Richard Aucott and Tomos Frater as Frank Churchill made their mark.   You could tell the cast were enjoying themselves, as did the audience and enjoyed Ian Appleby’s production.

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