A montage of Black Treacle Theatre cast members in Laura Wade’s The Watsons at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre
TWO productions of The Watsons, Laura Wade’s take on unfinished Jane Austen business, are opening on the same night in York and Helmsley tonight.
Jim Paterson directs Black Treacle Theatre’s production at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre; Pauline Noakes is at the helm for 1812 Theatre Company at Helmsley Arts Centre.
What happens when the writer loses the plot? Find out as Emma Watson, 19 and new in town in the elegant world of early 19th-century England, is cut off by her rich aunt and dumped back in the family home, from where she must navigate society, marriage prospects and her future.
Emma and her sisters must marry, fast, but there is one hitch (not of the marital kind). Jane Austen did not finish this story. Who will write Emma’s happy ending now? Enter Laura Wade, who takes the incomplete novel to fashion a sparklingly witty play that looks under Austen’s bonnet to ask: what can characters do when their author abandons them?
As a recognisably Austen tale begins to unfold, something unexpected happens. Bridgerton meets Austentatious, Regency flair meets modern twists, and the plot goes ever more off-piste.
Florence Poskitt’s Margaret Watson, left, Jennifer Jones’s Elizabeth Watson and Livy Potter’s Emma Watson in the poster for York company Black Treacle Theatre’s The Watsons
Playful, clever, and full of surprises, The Watsons starts as a period drama and transforms into a bold reimagining that spins Regency charm into a dazzling modern theatrical experience, exploring storytelling, free will and who gets to write our endings.
Penned by Posh and Home I’m Darling writer Wade, the play was first produced at Chichester Festival Theatre. Now Black Treacle Theatre takes up the challenge, collaborating with the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in a fundraising production for the JoRo.
Director Jim Paterson says: “The Watsons is simply brilliant. My mind was fizzing from the moment I first read this funny, smart and dynamic play that offers us so much scope for creativity in staging it.
“Laura Wade is one of our best playwrights, and her adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel both fulfils and plays with expectations of what ‘a Jane Austen story’ is, and what she means to us all. With the brilliant cast and creative team bringing this to life, I can’t wait for us to share this with an audience this summer – and celebrate Jane’s 250th birthday.”
Appearing in Paterson’s cast will be: Livy Potter as Emma Watson; Jennifer Jones, Elizabeth Watson; Florence Poskitt, Margaret Watson; Matt Pattison, Robert Watson; Abi Baxter, Mrs Robert; Maggie Smales, Nanny; Victoria Delaney, Lady Osbourne; Cameron O’Byrne, Lord Osbourne; Effie Warboys, Miss Osbourne; Nick Patrick Jones, Tom Musgrave; Andy Roberts, Mr Howard; Sally Mitcham, Mrs Edwards; Paul Miles, Captain Bertie, and Sanna Jeppsson, Laura.
Jeanette Hambidge’s Nanny, left, Becca Magson’s Emma Watson, Vicki Mason’s Margaret Watson, Linda Tester’s Servant and Oliver Clive’s Lord Osborne in 1812 Theatre Company’s The Watsons
MEANWHILE, how is the 1812 Theatre Company promoting the same play? Here’s how: “The Watsons are coming! Who, you may ask? The Watsons are a family created by Jane Austen in a story she never finished, possibly due to grief over the death of her beloved father.
“Whatever the reason, we have been unable to follow their unfolding lives, although several characters and their concerns bear close similarity to popular Austen figures, until now.
“Step forward Laura Wade, a playwright whose works have graced the stages of the National Theatre and the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough with the West End hit Home I’m Darling.
“Wade has taken the story of The Watsons, their affairs, values and outlooks, and continued their lives in an altogether unexpected and intriguing way. Gradually we come to realise that despite the outward differences of clothes and habits of the early 19th century, their interests are not too dissimilar to our own. Though perhaps ours are becoming stranger!
Vicki Mason’s Margaret Watson, left, and Jeanette Hambidge’s Nanny in 1812 Theatre Company’s The Watsons
“The result is a play inspired by Jane Austen’s work, in this, the 250th anniversary of her birth. Presented by the 1812 Theatre Company at Helmsley Arts Centre, giving Austen fans a chance to relish a new work and others to observe that her people are not just Georgian dresses and uniforms but have personalities, feelings and problems. The play wears its comedy lightly and is a lively piece, authentically using dance music that Jane herself copied out!”
Pauline Noakes’s cast comprises: Becca Magson as Emma Watson; Julia Bullock, Elizabeth Watson; Vicki Mason, Margaret Watson; Richard Noakes, Uncle Robert Watson, ; Julie Wilson, Aunt Robert Watson; Barry Whitaker, Mr Watson; Jeanette Hambidge, Nanny; Beaj Johnson, Tom Musgrave; Oliver Clive, Lord Osborne; Sue Smith, Lady Osborne; Rosie Hayman, Miss Osborne; Mike Martin, Mr Howard; Robert Perry, Charles Howard; Linda Tester, Servant; Heather Linley, Servant, and Graham Smith, Dancing Master.
The Watsons, Black Treacle Theatre, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 9 to 12, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee; 1812 Theatre Company, Helmsley Arts Centre, July 9 to 12, 7.30pm. Box office: York, 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.