The Toddy Times

Hannah and I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Pride and Prejudice (sort of)’ at the Festival Theatre in Chichester.  Five extremely talented women played every major role requiring rapid changes of both costume and character adding to the pace of the piece which left the packed house as breathless as the cast. This bonkers but brilliant production won an Olivier award for Best Comedy during its run in the West End.

Jane Austen 250th Anniversary

‘Emma’ is the living embodiment of a Georgian online dating service that is still in development. Consequently, the more she meddles, the more romantic mayhem and disaster she inadvertently creates. Ultimately though, Emma delivers the perfect match. Hannah and I loved the play’s performance at the CFT which was a delight from start to finish.

Marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen in 1775 has sparked many new adaptions, re-runs, analyses of her work of her life and work on the radio and television, in the cinema and on stage. Here are just a few:

Rob and I were looking forward to an outdoor performance of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ which,

although beautifully set in an enclosed outdoor quadrangle under the windows of Chichester Cathedral, the actors’ voices did not carry sufficiently for everyone to appreciate their performances.  The fortunate audience in the front ten rows could hear well enough judging by their reactions, but for those like ourselves sitting further back, it was a real strain to catch what the actors were saying. A real disappointment.

I still love this classic BBC adaption of ‘Persuasion’ from 1995 with Amanda Root and Ciarán Hinds. And it’s still on iPlayer!