Rob Winlow’s new musical Austen the Musical is touring the UK and includes runs at the Bread and Roses Theatre and Mirth, Marvel and Maud Theatre.
This new musical is a celebration of one of the best known British authors, taking audience on a journey to discover the woman behind some of the best known novels in English Literature.
By turns comical, tragic, and enchanting, Austen is a musical that explores the challenges a female novelist faces in patriarchal Georgian England. As Jane struggles to be published, she experiences the pressures, pleasures, and pitfalls of courtship with multiple suitors. The story remains resonant and poignant in these turbulent times as the fight for gender equality continues.
Talking about the show writer Rob Winlow said: “The starting point and the question we ask, and ultimately try to answer, in the show, is how come Jane Austen wrote so eloquently about romantic affairs when she had seemingly few loving relationships and never married?”
The cast includes: Edith Kirkwood (Peculiar Distractions, York Theatre Royal) features as Jane Austen, with Thomas Hewitt (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Lyric Hammersmith & National Tour) playing the suitors, and Jenni Lea-Jones (The Mikado, Illyria Theatre National Tour) and Adam Grayson (Jonathan Creek, BBC) as Jane’s parents.
The production is directed by Timothy Trimingham Lee (Buried Child, Upstairs at the Gatehouse).
Tour dates for the production are as follows:
Jan 11th – 13th, Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham, 7.30pm http://www.oldjointstock.co.uk
Jan 16th – 20th, The Bread & Roses Theatre, London, 7.30pm http://www.breadandrosestheatre.co.uk
Jan 22nd – 24th, Mirth, Marvel & Maud Theatre, London, 7.30pm http://www.mirthmarvelandmaud.com,
Jan 25th, Stamford Corn Exchange, Stamford, 2.30pm & 7.30pm http://www.stamfordcornexchange.co.uk
Jan 26th – 27th, East Riding Theatre, Beverley, 7.30pm (2.00pm 27th) http://www.eastridingtheatre.co.uk
Feb 8th, Artix, Bromsgrove, 8.00pm http://www.artrix.co.uk
Feb 27th – 28th, Rothes Hall, Fife, 7.30pm http://www.onfife.com/venues/rothes-halls
Mar 7th , Harborough Theatre, Harborough, 7.30pm http://www.harboroughtheatre.com,
Mar 28th – 29th, Chesil Theatre, Winchester, 7.45pm http://www.chesiltheatre.org.uk,