Jane Austen’s Heroines To Visit Newcastle

Jane Austen’s Heroines Visit Newcastle What better way to spend a wintry autumn Sunday afternoon than in the warm company of some of Jane Austen’s most celebrated characters? Down Arts Service is delighted to present award-winning actress Rebecca Vaughan in Austen’s Women, at The Annesley Hall, Newcastle at 3pm on Sunday 13th November. Jane Austen created some of Literature’s most celebrated characters, defining her era, gender and class.  Two hundred years on, her works continue to speak for the yearning heart as much as they did when they were written – so just how much has really changed for women since? In a solo performance of extraordinary virtuosity, using only Austen’s words, Rebecca Vaughan answers this question by boldly revisiting the most rewarding moments from all six major novels, including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma, plus those in lesser known works such as Austen’s Juvenilia and the unfinished Sanditon. [caption id="attachment_31079" align="alignleft" width="156" caption="Austen's heroines will be on stage in Newcastle on Sunday 13th November. "][/caption] In scenes of high comedy and profound pathos, Vaughan deconstructs the souls of Emma Woodhouse, Lizzy Bennet, Mrs Norris, Miss Bates and nine other beautifully observed women.  Divorced from their historical context (and in the absence of their men), these women present a glorious distillation of 19^th century feminism and speak volumes about love, friendship and notorious improprieties. Austen’s Women was a sell-out success at festivals in Edinburgh in 2009 and Adelaide in 2010.  It is adapted and performed by Rebecca Vaughan, whose I, Elizabeth was a five-star success at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and received high praise from audience members at the Annesley Hall performance in Newcastle earlier this year. This brilliant, illuminating and above all entertaining evocation of Jane Austen’s works is a treat for Austen lovers and the perfect introduction to her wit and humour for the uninitiated. To purchase tickets (£10 / £8) and for further information please contact the Down Arts Centre box office on 028 4461 2233. The complete Down Arts Centre programme is available at www.downartscentre.co *  For more information please visit www.dyadproductions.com]]>