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Picture: Simon Annand Emma Malvern Theatres **** For a night of foibles and peccadilloes, what’s not to love? The new stage adaptation of Jane Austin’s Emma by Ryan Craig will make you feel all gooey inside, as warm as hot chestnuts on a cold autumnal night, as the matchmaking minx Emma Woodhouse meddles in matters of the heart with dire consequences and pompous proposals galore. Emma, played by India Shaw-Smith, is assertive with a tongue in cheek wit and emphatically blind sighted into setting up the ambitious young Reverend Philip Elton, Oscar Batterham, to poor unassuming creature Harriet Smith, Maiya Louise Thapar. No wonder Emma’s father Mr Henry Woodhouse, needed to escape for a lie down, hilariously executed by William Chubb, his charismatic hypochondria sees his blood pressure rising substantially the more his daughter embroils herself in Harriet Smith’s affairs in an attempt to sway from one suitor to the next in a topsy turvy juggle of hierarchical passion. How does one keep up with Jane Fairfax’s pianoforte and Frank Churchill’s sick aunt, Robert Martin’s jerking of the udders, George Knightly’s dancing etiquette with so much glowing all over the place? There will be no clock watching during this production as the picnic blanket unfolds, so too does the romantic leanings of the guests where strawberries are chomped and cider is quaffed frantically and fervently. Although the novel Emma was first published in December 1815, it’s not the first adaptation, as loosely inspiring the 1995 coming-of-age teen film Clueless and certainly won’t be the last as this period drama delves into romantic endeavours with brilliant humour and a happy ending. Celebrate the 250th Anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth this year as Theatre Royal Bath productions presents this new stage adaptation of the famous comedy of manners, Emma, at Malvern Theatres until Saturday 18th October. Tickets are available from the box office on 01684 892277 or check out the website below. Emma Trimble 13-10-25 |
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