Jane Austen's PERSUASION Comes To Louisville

Claire Moyer will direct a script-in-hand performance of PERSUASION, a new play by Sarah Rose Kearns, adapted from the novel by Jane Austen, on the afternoon of Saturday, July 14, 2018, at 3:30 PM, in the Victor Jory space at the Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Jane Austen's last and most romantic novel, PERSUASION first appeared in print in 1818. Set in the immediate wake of the Napoleonic wars, it is a brilliant meditation on love and loss, and what is constant in a changing world.

This original stage adaptation, still in development, has received readings and workshops at such venues as the HB Playwrights Foundation in New York City; Hedgerow Theatre in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania; the University of North Carolina Jane Austen Summer Program; and the Jane Austen Society of North America, New York Metropolitan Region.

Claire Moyer holds an MA in directing from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and she is the Associate Director and Literary Manager of Philadelphia's Inis Nua Theatre, which produces new writing from the UK and Ireland. Directing credits include Inis Nua, Curio Theatre, Philadelphia Artists' Collective, Revolution Shakespeare, and more. Her work has been recognized with two Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Direction of a Play, with another for Outstanding Overall Production of a Play.

Sarah Rose Kearns is a writer, performer, and lifelong Austen enthusiast. As an actress, she has appeared at Symphony Space, Baltimore Center Stage, Chez Bushwick, and elsewhere; and she holds a bachelor's degree in creative writing from Columbia University. She is also the author of MANYDOWN, a thirty-minute play about Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra, recently presented at the Dramatists Guild and Nardin Academy in New York.

The cast of PERSUASION, composed of both visiting and local Louisville actors, includes Gary Ambler, Chris Brumley, Ariadne Calvano, Barbara Evans, Kelly Moore, Amanda Jill Robinson (also acting as music director), Kyle Ware, Coy Benning Wentworth, Maggie Wetzel, and Jenna Zhu.

The Victor Jory black box at the Actors Theatre of Louisville will open at 3:00 PM on Saturday, July 14, 2018; and the show begins promptly at 3:30. The theatre is located at 316 W. Main St. in Louisville, KY. Running time is roughly 2 hours, 15 minutes, including one brief intermission.

Tickets are $20 in advance (online), $25 at the door: www.louisvilletickets.com/events/persuasion

PERSUASION will also be performed, in a slightly abridged version, on the evening of Friday, July 13 at the tenth annual Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, the largest annual Austen-related event in North America, which attracts around 2,000 visitors each year. For more information about the Jane Austen Festival and to register, please visit www.jasnalouisville.com.