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Catherine Morland knows little of the world, but who needs real-life experience when you have novels to guide you? Seizing her chance to escape her claustrophobic family and join the smart set in Bath, she meets worldly, sophisticated Isabella Thorpe – Iz, to her friends – and so Cath's very own adventure begins.
This playful and surprising reimagining of Northanger Abbey is infused with the spirit of Jane Austen's original novel and fizzes with imagination and humour. It was premiered in 2024 at the Orange Tree Theatre, London, before touring to Octagon Theatre, Bolton, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, and Theatre by the Lake, Keswick.
“A smartly playful adaptation that pulses with real passions... it asks big, clever questions about personal agency, authorship and control... Austen would thoroughly approve.” —Evening Standard
“Moves at a tremendous clip... the wooing is done with such subtlety and good humor.” —The Times
“An incisive adaptation that approaches the tale from a fresh, contemporary angle... exuberantly, unashamedly silly... Quick-fire scenes jump about in time, skillfully picking apart the narrative with flashbacks that offer new context, or cutting away to asides where the characters debate their real intentions... an appealing, intriguingly flawed protagonist... unexpected and intriguing.” —The Stage
“A spirited three-hander romp... it's exhilarating, transmuting Austen's daftest novel into something really quite beautiful.” —Time Out
“A very modern, knowing take, clearly powered by love for the original tale.” —WhatsOnStage
“A playfully daring take on Jane Austen's original novel - and it works... There are lovely meta moments [with a] tight, witty script... and Cooper brilliantly transforms the conventional ending... it's all fantastic fun.” —Reviews Hub
“Very entertaining... engaging and imaginative.” —LondonTheatre1
“A vivaciously queer take on Jane Austen that will make readers and audiences think twice.” —Observer
“A three-hander lark, with much nifty work with hats and coats, parents and relatives mischievously cross-cast, and a bittersweet take on happy ever after.” —TheatreCat
“Clever, funny and seriously silly... The laughs don't stop... brilliant small-scale theatre.” —Arts Desk
“Playful, witty and laced with innuendo.” —All That Dazzles
Zoe Cooper is a playwright whose work includes: A Song for Ella Grey, adapted from the novel by David Almond (Pilot Theatre, 2024); Northanger Abbey after Jane Austen (Orange Tree Theatre Richmond, Octagon Theatre Bolton, Stephen Joseph Theatre Scarborough & Theatre by the Lake, 2024); The Kiss (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, part of the Inside/Outside season of short plays, 2021); Out of Water (Orange Tree Theatre, 2019, in association with the RSC; a finalist in the 2020 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and shortlisted for the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Awards 2019); and Jess and Joe Forever (Orange Tree Theatre, 2017, followed by UK tour; winner of the Most Promising Playwright Award at the Off West End Awards 2017; longlisted for the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award).
Jane Austen (1775–1817) was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction set among the landed gentry have earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature.