3 STARS. Jane Austen’s Emma, adapted by Tim Luscombe, at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, until June 3
Tim Luscombe brings Jane Austen’s most famous heroine to the stage. Prepare for mismatched matchmaking, unrequited wooing and social-climbing on a regency scale
I have long loved Jane Austen and her novel Emma, the story of a spoilt heiress, stifled by the constraints of Surrey village life, who amuses herself with the lives and loves of those around her is one of my favourites.
So it was with a sense of excitement that I sat down to watch Tim Luscombe’s adaptation of this glorious novel in the year we mark the 200th anniversary of the author’s death.
Emma is a lonely young woman, recently deprived of her only stimulating female companion. Her former governess has married and Emma has found some solace in the company of Harriet Smith, a young lady, though charming and sweet, of doubtful birth. With small-town life a bore and busy-body neighbours in excess, Emma turns her hand to matchmaking but inevitably only causes heartbreak in the process. She does, however, also learn much about her own flawed character. If you’ll forgive the spoiler alert (there can’t be many avid readers out there unfamiliar with Austen?), there is a happy ending.
Luscombe’s set is austere, with bare wooden tables, few props and a raised round for the actors – dressed in full regency mode – to stride or stroll around depending on their mood. All the action, whether in town (Epsom) or at home (Hartfield) is played out here and it is very much down to the audience to create the scene in their mind’s eye. This is not always successful and quite a large degree of imagination is required for the scenes at the ball and when Harriet is accosted by trampers on her walk.
Luscombe has chosen to reveal the romantic subplot between Mr Churchill and Jane Fairfax as the play unfolds – unlike Austen who kept the secret to the final chapters – so that the audience knows what is going on even if Emma (an accomplished performance by Bethan Nash) does not. It was always going to be a challenge to adapt such a complex novel and it feels as if some scenes are simply thrown in for the sake of explanation only, such as Harriet’s aforementioned assault and subsequent rescue by Mr Churchill.
I am sorry to say that despite my initial excitement the production left me rather cold. There was no fault with the individual performances; Hannah Genesius was absolutely superb as the vulgar, social-climbing Mrs Elton, Phillip Edgerley captured Mr Knightley’s torture of love and frustration with Jane perfectly and Kate Copeland shone as Miss Bates, but as a whole I felt little of the wry amusement and intelligent wit of Austen’s original. I do not think I was the only one; there was hardly any laughter from the audience and the couple in front of me left at the interval. At 65 minutes per act, it is also ten minutes too long.
Finally, the play is also slightly marred by the miscasting of Nicholas Tizzard as both Mr Elton and Jane’s father (the only apparent costume change comes in the addition of a terrible wig). There is nothing wrong with his acting but Mr Elton is supposedly young and excessively handsome, a fact repeated a couple of times during the play, but when Mr Tizzard, sans his wig, but still looking north of 45 and a trifle portly, tries to woo Emma, he is ridiculous and unbelievable for all the wrong reasons.
Ardent fans of Austen will nevertheless find delight in her wonderful language, forthright (for the 19th century) feminist views and flawed, yet eminently likeable heroine. The Surrey references are fun, too, and a poignant reminder of the talents of our greatest British female author – and her interest in the world on our doorstep.
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