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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment

The Watsons review: Laura Wade puts a new twist on Jane Austen's great unfinished work

Pirandello famously played with the idea of characters left hanging in an abandoned story in Six Characters in Search of an Author, and now Laura Wade ingeniously does the same with Jane Austen.

The second half of 2018 is proving to be a triumphant return to writing for the stage for Wade; Home, I’m Darling, her other new drama, is on the shortlist at this year’s Evening Standard Theatre Awards for Best Play in partnership with Chanel.

Austen wrote five chapters of The Watsons before leaving it unfinished in 1805; what’s there is a tight, Pride and Prejudice-style interweaving of love and money. Emma Watson (Grace Molony) was brought up by a wealthy aunt; upon said aunt’s unexpected marriage, the 19-year-old has returned to her family. She must marry, and fast — but a peculiarly uppity servant appears to have vehement views on this.

The servant turns out to be a 21st-century playwright called Laura (Louise Ford), who comes bearing the bad news that everyone else in the 16-strong cast is a fictional creation whose future development hangs in limbo. Mutiny ensues, along with debates on democratic process and fate versus freewill. Whose ending will prevail, and will it bear any resemblance to the one Austen mapped out to her sister Cassandra?

Samuel West’s production moves from a carefully choreographed ball scene to a meta-theatrical free-for-all. Molony imbues Emma with questing intelligence and there’s support from Jane Booker as condescending Lady Osborne, who veers off in very 21st-century directions.

Until Dec 1 (01243 781312, cft.org.uk)

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