Northanger Abbey

Before the play itself started, the audience was treated to a charming introduction by Graham Allen, who delivered just the right amount of background information to enhance what was about to unfold.

The Director, Jody Deacon, had put together a vivid portrait of Regency England, with the cast bringing to life the characters of Jane Austen’s novel, capturing the nuances of the various stereotypes of Austen’s parody.

The opening set the scene in an original way, showing the audience what was going on in the heroine’s head, hinting at the ultimate confusion for her between the real world and that of her overactive imagination, sparked by the novels she favoured. It began by her reading, and gradually morphed into an atmospheric full-blown enactment of her imagined situations, which were simultaneously amusing and frightening to watch. The characters from the gothic novel appeared as real, and the actors playing them, Katerina Tsormpatzoplav, Martin Hunt and Matt McLaren, contrasted effectively with the more restrained respectable members of Catherine’s family. The scene where the three of them appeared from within the picture frames of the fictional characters of Udolpho was cleverly executed and refreshingly innovative.

The characterisations were bold and well-rehearsed, as was the deportment and dancing of the actors. Georgian Bath was well depicted, with the feeling of awkwardness experienced in the formal behaviour of the times. Rosemary Eason provided good support as the calm protégée of the heroine, in stark contrast to the larger-than-life General Tilney, portrayed with great gusto by Richard Sockett. The hypocritical, self-interested characters gave convincing performances: Simon Deacon as the smarmy Captain Tilney, Dean Ward as the insufferable John Thorpe, and the excruciating Isabella Thorpe played with such energy and perception by Anna Georgia-Smith that she was almost too unbearable to watch at times. Sebastian Blount was spot on with the softer character of the somewhat innocent James Morland, providing a much needed contrast to his conniving friend John. Tom Bonser’s characterisation of a rather stiff yet gently confident Henry Tilney provided welcome relief from the excessive nature of his father, and Serena MacMillan was totally credible in her portrayal of Catherine Morland, a naive young Georgian who was out of her depth among the malevolent characters in her company.

The story moved between several locations, requiring a number of scene and costume changes. This is always problematic for a theatre company: to allow the actors time to change and to allow the set to be re-dressed as necessary. The first scene change was very well halndled, with a slick swap of the portrait on the back wall done without the need to resort to blackout. The audience could join in as if they themselves were travelling between the locations, noting the changes along the way. Another example was the changing of the throw over the couch, done by a maid in costume, which was fun to watch. Unfortunately, this was not consistent, as there were rather too many, sometimes lengthy, blackouts during the performance, which drain the energy the cast try so hard to maintain. The pace of the actors themselves, delivering their lines with a great understanding of the language of the time was excellent, and good use was made of the different parts of the stage, but that pace suffered somewhat by the repeated blackouts. If there is a need for such a hiatus, there are innovative ways around it, such as the examples mentioned above, or other means, to keep the audience engaged. The background period music in the Bath scenes, or the birdsong in the Tilney house scenes did, though, go part of the way to alleviate this. But when the lights came back up, the audience found themselves once again part of Jane Austen’s treasured classic, on a well-designed stage with a good number of different exits, creating a feeling of rooms beyond what was visible.

A set period piece such as this is not easy to pull off, but the St John’s Players managed it with great dedication and enjoyment, so well done to everyone involved, on stage and behind the scenes.

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