An eleven-year run at the Fringe is no small feat, but returning to Austentatious as an audience member for the second year in a row, it’s clear that they have cracked the code: find a simple formula, place it in the hands of an inimitable group of comic actors, and deliver a unique iteration of Jane Austen, time and time again, to delighted audiences. Much like Austen’s novels, Austentatious is timelessly pleasing, and simply does not fail to draw you back for more.
Every show offers the rare chance to see one of several hundred ‘lost’ Jane Austen novels performed onstage, as put forward by audience members – in this case, plucky regency singletons joined forces to fight crime in ‘Lady Fletcher’s Spinsters Detective Agency’, which featured a host of accents, a suspicious clergyman, endless innuendo, and of course some classic Austen-esque romance. It is very silly, and though it sometimes becomes bit muddled, with names being forgotten and plot holes galore, that is all part of the fun. If you’re looking for a coherent plot, well… you’d probably be better to sticking to good old
Jane Austen.
First and foremost, it is an hour of jokes tangentially related to Austen, sometimes with current references wittily dropped into the nineteenth-century context. One wry comment about dodgy evangelical dealings in America was met with a rip-roaring response from the audience, as was a recurring bit about showing up to shops just minutes before closing. The clever blend of the contemporary and the classical, our world colliding with Austen’s, is intrinsic to the show’s charm.
Inventing a story on the go with very little direction is a difficult task, even more so is bringing it to a rounded conclusion at the end of the allotted hour the show fills. In this case the ending did feel somewhat rushed, with actors scrambling to tie loose ends with, as Lady Fletcher entertainingly put it, ‘only two minutes until the boat to the New World leaves’. Nonetheless, as I said before, the plot is really of very little consequence in comparison to the jokes – and as usual, these were witty, quick, and unfailingly funny.
A final note of recognition must be awarded to the show’s musician and tech crew. The piano accompaniments perfectly set the tone of the piece, with Bridgerton-style covers of contemporary classics chiming along behind the dialogue.
Austentatious is a treasure of improvised comedy, swoon-worthy every time. It is a special treat that it takes place in Edinburgh University’s lavishly beautiful McEwan Hall. For fans of Austen, Bridgerton, and improv, this show is must-see.
Austentatious is on from 3 to 11 August at McEwan Hall. Tickets available here.
Press image by Paul Gilbey, provided by Underbelly.