Who knew Jane Austen could be so funny?<\/p>\n
Jessica Bedford, Kathryn MacMillan, Charlotte Northeast and Meghan Winch apparently did.<\/p>\n
They are the playwrights of \u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,\u201d in its Lehigh Valley premiere through July 12, PA Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University.<\/p>\n
The June 26 opening night performance was seen for this theater review.<\/p>\n
The playwrights are self-confessed \u201cJaneites,\u201d devotees of the Jane Austen novels that their fast-paced, wildly-amusing and comedically-charming one-act play satirizes<\/p>\n
Bedford directs with a wild abandon three wonderful actors whose improvisational skills are as razor-sharp as the wit in and between the lines of a Jane Austen novel.<\/p>\n
The actors Madeleine Garcia (Jessica), Sarah Gliko (Charlotte) and David Pica (Trevor) assay multiple roles in the laugh-riotous comedy that thumbs through the pages of Jane Austen\u2019s well-known works, \u201cPride and Prejudice,\u201d \u201cSense and Sensibility\u201d and \u201cEmma,\u201d and lesser-known works.<\/p>\n
The literary regard of English novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817) seems to have grown with succeeding generations even though, or perhaps because, shortly before her death at age 41, only four novels she had written before age 22 were published when she was age 35.<\/p>\n
These were \u201cSense and Sensibility\u201d (1811), \u201cPride and Prejudice\u201d (1813), \u201cMansfield Park\u201d (1814) and \u201cEmma\u201d (1816).<\/p>\n
Published posthumously were \u201cNorthanger Abbey\u201d (1818), \u201cPersuasion\u201d (1818) and \u201cLady Susan\u201d (1871).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged\u201d references, plumbs and spoofs these and refers to Jane Austen\u2019s unfinished and other works, such as \u201cJuvenilia,\u201d Volume the First, and Second\u201d (1787-1793).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged\u201d is by no means vanilla. The 100-minute (by my count) play (with no intermission) is ribald, politically-incorrect (gloriously on purpose) and wink-wink, nudge-nudge to its own madcap sensibility (often nonsensical), the persuasions of the actors (always deliciously in the moment) and the sense of the audience (not to be left out; you may be singled out).<\/p>\n
Your introduction to Jane Austen may have been in some dimly-remembered high school or college literature course or viewing one of the some 31 movie adaptations of her novels or movies or TV shows inspired by her novels (among them, \u201cBridget Jones\u2019 Diary,\u201d 2001; \u201cClueless,\u201d 1995, and my favorite title, \u201cPup Fiction,\u201d 1997, an episode on the TV show, \u201cWishbone,\u201d 1995-1998, starring Soccer the Dog).<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t have to be a Janeite to enjoy \u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged.\u201d The concept, in the lovely set by Scenic Designer Gabby S. Tice, with dramatic flourishes by Lighting Designer Lily Fossner and fun script cues by Sound Designer David M. Greenburg, is that of two actors, who are fans of Jane Austen novels, wanting to put on a show when the third actor drops out.<\/p>\n
This conceit allows the playwrights to expound, explain and instruct on the joys of Jane. You don\u2019t need to be a Janeite to enjoy the show. The playwrights and, even more so, the actors make sure of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged\u201d has the, ahem, \u201cSense and Sensibility\u201d of sketch-comedy.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to single out one actor over the other in the dynamic three-person ensemble. Each is a master of a thousand facial expressions, dialogue accents and inflections, body language of arms akimbo and legs askance and pratfalls, slapstick and physical comedy aplenty. The wearing of, or doffing of, a hat, provides a lightning round of role changes. Hat\u2019s entertainment.<\/p>\n
Madeleine Garcia is a fearless performer whose eyes, voice and body hovers over the proceedings like a Cheshire Cat of comedy. Sarah Gliko is a sly performer who pauses for effect to great effect. David Pica is taken aback without losing composure. Hats off, or on, to this trio of mirth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged\u201d provides the theater-goer with a new appreciation of Jane Austen or a renewed appreciation of Jane Austen. You don\u2019t need to read a Jane Austen novel before you see the play. You may want read a Jane Austen novel after you see the play. It\u2019s not \u201cAbridged\u201d too far.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,\u201d 7:30 p.m. June 24, 25, 26, July 2, 3, 8, 9, 10; 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. June 27, July 1, 11; 2 p.m. June 28, July 4, 5, 8, 12; 6:30 p.m. June 30, July 7, PA Shakespeare Festival, Schubert Theatre, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley.<\/p>\n
Meet the actors for a talk-back after July 2 and July 9 performances.<\/p>\n
An audio-described for the blind or visually-impaired performance is 2 p.m. July 11.<\/p>\n
\u201cEpilogues,\u201d a free discussion and a behind-the-scenes look at the production, is 10 a.m. July 11.<\/p>\n
Tickets: 610-282-9455, https:\/\/pashakespeare.org\/<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY KRISTY MCKEEVERLeft to right: Madeleine Garcia (Jessica), Sarah Gliko (Charlotte), David Pica (Trevor), \u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,\u201d PA Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University.<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY KRISTY MCKEEVERLeft to right: Sarah Gliko (Charlotte), Madeleine Garcia (Jessica), \u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,\u201d PA Shakespeare Festival.<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY KRISTY MCKEEVERLeft to right: Madeleine Garcia (Jessica), Sarah Gliko (Charlotte), \u201cThe Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,\u201d PA Shakespeare Festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who knew Jane Austen could be so funny? Jessica Bedford, Kathryn MacMillan, Charlotte Northeast and Meghan Winch apparently…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-231722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}