Jane Austen News

Orlando Shakespeare Theater (Orlando Shakes) in Partnership with UCF will hold its 9th Annual John R. Hamilton Mock Trial on Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center. This year characters in William Shakespeare's comedy Love's Labour's Lost will be put on trial. The Margeson Theater will transform into an interactive courtroom as actors from the show improv their way through the trial amidst a panel of celebrity judges. Tickets ($35 - VIP; $25 and $15 - Regular) go on sale Tuesday, January 17, 2017 and may be purchased by calling (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at www.orlandoshakes.org, or in person at 812 East Rollins Street.  

This January at Wilton's even the performers don't know what they are going to be performing!

For theatre lovers in our area, we always look forward to what our theatre companies have in store for us in their upcoming seasons. We look to see if there are any trends that stand out to us as audience members. We also see growth in many companies with each new season of shows. Anyone that's been following DC theatre for a while will notice how things have changed in the last twenty or thirty years. One of the biggest examples of this would be the clean up and revitalization of 14th Street, which had direct implications for Studio Theatre and Source.

Dating is hard enough on its own, much less when you have to screen your father's options, too. Bob Morris' hilarious, poignant new play Assisted Loving: Dating with My Dad posits a brave new world that tangles filial piety, romance and the internet in bright, unexpected ways.

January brings events to Bookworks that explore transformations, education, social issues like war and charity, and great new literature.

Interrobang Theatre Project concludes its 2016-17 Season, exploring 'Flesh and Blood,' with the Chicago premiere of Deanna Jent's drama FALLING, one family's battle against stigma from society and each other.

Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds are thrilled to announce the cast for their 2017 national tour of Northanger Abbey.

In what has become an annual ritual, a total of 32 established and emerging composers, lyricists, and librettists will converge on the Goodspeed campus from mid-January through mid-February 2017 to participate in the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing 18 new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.

This year we celebrate the 15th anniversary of everyone's favorite mall elf, Crumpet, in The Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris, adapted to the stage by Joe Mantello.  The very talented Zac Schuman (Avenue Q) and A.J. Roy are back again sharing the iconic role over the course of this limited run. So come see the show that has become the cult classic of the 'anti-holiday tradition' for San Francisco's audiences, come escape the craziness of the holidays with Combined Artform at the Eureka Theatre.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley has extended its hit holiday musical romance, Daddy Long Legs, created by John Caird (Book) and Paul Gordon (Music & Lyrics). Due to popular demand, Daddy Long Legs will add performances: 8pm, Friday, January 6, and 2pm & 8pm, Saturday, January 7. The production will close after the 8pm performance on January 7.

Looking for a great gift idea for the bookworm in your family? Consider a trilogy based on the life of the popular author Jane Austen, which combines her close portraits of ordinary life with the grand scope of the Regency Era and Napoleonic wars.

The cast and crew of DADDY LONG LEGS at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley gave the popular Mannequin Challenge a go with the help of one of their very enthusiastic student matinee audiences. Check out the video below!

In an artistic collaboration with Cafe Nordo in Pioneer Square, a four-course meal will deliciously underscore a signature Book-It theatrical experience.

From the creator of Jane Austen's EMMA and the adaptor of Les Miserables comes an intimate musical valentine that captivated the Bay Area and has since charmed audiences in London, Tokyo, and New York. Its joyous return for the holidays is set in suffragette-era New England, where a spirited orphan girl is sent to a prestigious college by a mysterious benefactor. Her heart-warming journey to independence, education, and romance is chronicled in a wealth of witty letters and glorious songs.  Watch highlights of the show below!

It's the holidays at Pemberley. One might expect lavish decorations, ornate rooms, and a ball to be had any day now. But it's not the eclectic library or drawing room (more Longbourn than Pemberley in style) that stands out in Marin Theatre Company's latest production - although the tree does receive a few pleasant jabs throughout. Playwrights Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon treat us to a family Christmas in which the Bennet sisters continue to meddle, prattle and all together steal our hearts.

Oxford Theatre Guild presents the gripping and timeless theatre classic - Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons' - opening Today 6th December at Oxford's Old Fire Station.

When every theater company feels compelled to do something Christmas-themed come December, it can lead to either overusing certain titles or creating fluffy trifles.

Two Bit Classics, Joannah Tincey and Nick Underwood have brought their successful touring two-actor production of Pride & Prejudice to London. Through a mixture of dialogue and third-person narrative, Tincey and Underwood inhabit all the characters of Jane Austen's beloved novel, which means quick successions of back-and-forth exchanges, sometimes even carried out by the same actor.

Laura Osnes, Tony-nominated for originating title roles in BONNIE & CLYDE and CINDERELLA, has devoted an entire cabaret act to pondering that hypothetical what if. Bringing an updated version of her show THE PATHS NOT TAKEN back to Feinstein's/54 Below for a four-performance run beginning November 27, Osnes exclusively performed songs which have never seen the light from shows that she nearly booked and either didn't get or had to back out of for one reason or another.