Review: All Jane Austen’s novels are parodied in this Tread the Boards masterclass

The Complete Jane Austen Collection [sort of]

Performed at The Attic Theatre, Stratford upon Avon, Tuesday 01 July 2025 [until 19 July]. Directed by Ash Bayliss.

Tread the Boards are renowned for their versatility, from Shakespeare to Noël Coward to Conan Doyle.Their latest production looks at Jane Austen’s novels… “but not as we know them Jim”.

Attic actor Rosie Coles is a lover of Jane Austen and had the ambition to present an evening of all Austen’s novels. Recruiting fellow Tread the Boards regulars John-Robert [JR] Partridge and Emily Tietz to assist, Rosie did her best to bring intellectual gravitas to the evening. Unfortunately only Rosie had read any Austen novels and her two collaborators had other agendas. Emily was hoping for the best roles for herself, while JR was openly scathing about the inane plots and dialogue. This was a world premier of this adaptation by the writing team of Emma Ingleton, Ash Bayliss and Catherine Prout.

JR set the scene with a slide presentation of Jane Austen’s life story, with malapropisms and anachronisms. The skeleton of each story was acted out by the three actors taking numerous parts, with bickering, arguments, accusations and counter-accusations. Rosie’s plans were frequently thwarted by JR’s irreverence to the Austen stories and Emily’s desire to be the glamorous heroine.

The clever script incorporated dialogue and characters from modern TV programmes. Rosie’s impersonation of Cilla Black in a dating game show was hilarious. Traitors and Made in Chelsea were each used in scenes. JR appeared as Elton John with the inevitable trade mark big glasses, using Elton’s song titles as part of his dialogue.

There were several dance routines, which were very varied, almost none of which were appropriate for the Austen era and which made the scenes even more humorous. The cast were clearly well rehearsed in what superficially were chaotic scenes. In Sense and Sensibility, Emily and JR danced to Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights before Rosie pointed out that was by Emily Brontë, not Jane Austen.

The whole evening was very clever farce but incorporating many elements of pantomime. There was a lot of innuendo but much of the script was very witty. Emily and JR claimed that they could perform Mansfield Park in three minutes before the interval, which Rosie challenged them to do. With superb hyperactive choreography, interchanging of roles and taking turns to explain the plot, the trio breathlessly did just that.

After the interval, the focus was on Austen’s best known work, Pride and Prejudice. JR of course thought he was going to be Darcy, but Rosie presented Colin Firth…as a life size cardboard cutout. The interactions of Emily as Elizabeth Bennett with the cardboard Firth, and the disappointed JR giving deadpan responses from behind the cutout, while reading the script from the back of the cutout, were hysterical. In best pantomime tradition, two reluctant audience members were invited to participate.

This full house was given an hilarious run through of all of the Austen novels, transforming serious and emotionally intense literature into side splitting comedy. It may have been a shock to the system for Austen purists, but this was a first rate evening’s entertainment whether one knows much or very little about Austen’s work. Once again the extremely talented Tread the Boards cast delivered top quality theatre.

Tickets from The Complete Jane Austen Collection (Sort of) at The Attic Theatre event tickets from TicketSource