Cast Announced for the Premiere of Tim Luscombe's Stage Adaptation of EMMA

Romance, scheming and mistaken intentions, Jane Austen's original romantic comedy Emma, brought to life in many on-screen adaptations, finds a new incarnation in a sparkling new stage adaptation by acclaimed writer Tim Luscombe (Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park and Persuasion).

Directed by Colin Blumenau, Luscombe's faithful adaptation of this comic masterpiece will embark on its first national tour this Summer, during the 200 year anniversary of Austen's death.

The tour will star Bethan Nash as Emma whose credits include Swallows and Amazons and London Road at the Bristol Old Vic, Phillip Edgerley as Mr Knightley whose extensive stage appearances include a season in Sir Michel Boyd's Long Ensemble company for the RSC and most recently seen in ITV's Endeavour, Nicholas Tizzard as Mr Woodhouse and Mr Elton whose stage credits include Cabaret (Savoy Theatre), War Horse & Coram Boy (National Theatre), George Kemp as Frank Churchill who joins the company directly from his West End run in Ian Hislop's The Wipers Times, Kate Copeland as Miss Bates whose stage credits include The First Man (Jermyn Street Theatre) and many productions at Mercury Theatre, Colchester and Hannah Genesius as Mrs Elton who most recently appeared in A Christmas Carol (London Barbican) and The Great Divide (Finborough Theatre).

Joining them will be 2016 RADA graduate Polly Misch as Harriet, Rhys Jennings and Central graduate Georgie Oulton will make her professional debut as Jane Fairfax.

Young, bright and beautiful, Emma Woodhouse has the world at her feet, or at least the small part of Surrey in which she lives. When the dashing Mr Elton comes to town she decides to take it on herself to perform the role of matchmaker to her new friend Harriet Smith. But to Emma's great surprise, the more she tries to manipulate the destinies of others, the less success she has, until she herself, determined never to wed, is forced to face her own feelings and perhaps even dare to love another...

Keeping faithfully to the original, Luscombe relates Austen's story with verve and style, transporting her famous characters vividly to the stage, including the dashing Mr Knightley, the comic hypochondriac Mr Woodhouse and the sublimely verbose Miss Bates!

Luscombe has been described as theatre's 'Austen champion' with his previous partnership with Colin Blumenau on Mansfield Park being critiqued as 'Riveting adaptation... utterly absorbing... created with much love, affection and, above all, intelligence.'

Colin Blumenau's knowledge of Georgian theatre is unmatched, during his time as Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, the country's last Regency Playhouse, he uncovered many hugely successful Georgian plays, in some cases performing them for the first time in nearly two hundred years.

Colin Blumenau said "The early 19th century is, by now, my creative homeland! Coming back to Jane Austen after a couple of years, coupled with my twenty years of exploring the Georgian and Regency literary and dramatic repertoire makes me very happy indeed! Tim Luscombe's adaptation and Libby Watson's design give us the freedom to tell a brilliant story with style, wit, beauty and verve. It will be a production for both the purist and the uninitiated. I hope that the former will enjoy the fidelity to Austen's work. Equally I hope that the latter will be pleasantly surprised by its humour, its modernity and its universality."

Produced by The Production Exchange, whose recent tour of Lady Anna: All At See met to high acclaim in 2016.

For more information, visit www.theproductionexchange.com