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Jane Austen, who loved the theater, would probably be pleased that one of her novels will be brought to life by the Company Theatre. The production, which opens today, celebrates Austen’s 250th birthday (she was born Dec. 16, 1775), and also showcases an accomplished cast (to borrow a favorite Austen word) of 13 women actors.
“Presenting a show like ‘Persuasion’ is part of the Company Theatre’s brand,” says Carl Del Buono. “It’s one of Austen’s less-familiar novels, so it’s an unexpected choice. That’s what we want to do.”
In addition to writing and directing the company’s upcoming Austen adaptation, Del Buono is also Company Theatre’s founder and artistic director.
Austen has long had a secure place as one of the supreme novelists in the English language. Her “Pride and Prejudice,” “Sense and Sensibility,” and “Emma” have permanent places in required-reading lists. But unlike many classic authors, her books are constantly read for pleasure, too, and have been adapted innumerable times for movies and television. Reboots of “Pride and Prejudice” are a Brit-TV staple, and the classic American movie “Clueless” is a 1990s take on the self-absorbed heroine of “Emma.”
Along with constant attention from literary scholars, Austen is the idol of many fans and acolytes—known as Janeites or Jane-iacs, take your pick—are so numerous, and occasionally so obsessed, that they’ve inspired fiction and movies of their own.
Austen is not just a great writer; she’s a cultural icon. So, when the Company Theatre wanted to follow up last season’s successful “Great Expectations,” they chose to try another, slightly earlier, British classic.
Del Buono was happy to write and direct the adaptation himself. “Persuasion has been my favorite Austen novel since high school,” he says. (He admits that years ago he wrote an updated version, “which is now safely hidden in a desk drawer.”) “When we announced that we were doing ‘Persuasion,’ I heard from many Janeites that this was also their favorite, too.”
His adaptation jettisons a few characters and situations, but tells the story accurately and deftly. Plenty of Austen’s original narration and dialogue is included, for Janeites to savor and to give the show what Del Buono calls “that Jane Austen POV.”
And she definitely had a point of view. Some readers simply enjoy Austen’s stories as romances with happy endings; others admire her realism and detailed depiction of English country society, especially her sense of the role of women in a society where their happiness, if not their survival, depended on a “correct” marriage, and a woman in her late 20s was considered a spinster.
One of those unfortunate women is the main character of “Persuasion”: Anne Elliot, bookish, reserved, and a bit melancholy. Before “Persuasion”begins, Anne was deeply in love with a sailor named Frederick Wentworth. Despite their strong mutual feelings, Anne is persuaded to refuse Wentworth and is resigned to living with her snobbish father and older sister.
When Wentworth returns eight years later, after a lucrative naval career, the Elliot family is deep in debt and renting their estate, and Anne finds her feelings as strong as ever. Anyone who has read Austen will not be surprised that after a number of complications and revelations Anne and Wentworth reunite, no persuading necessary.
The attraction of “Persuasion” for many is in the character of Anne, and its regretful, romantic tone, appreciably different from Austen’s other novels. (“Persuasion” has a happy ending, but the author’s health was failing when she wrote it; she died in July 1817 and it was published posthumously.)
Del Buono admits he originally envisioned a conventional, gender-balanced cast for “Persuasion.”
“We held auditions, and some of our male actors were fantastic,” he explains. “But we just didn’t have enough of them for the roles. We did have all these fantastic women auditioning, so we decided we’d try an all-female cast instead.”
An all-woman performance of a Jane Austen story may be unexpected, but then again, perhaps not; as this author once averred: “Woman is fine for her own satisfaction alone.”
Women play such roles as Anne’s brother-in-law Charles Musgrove, Admiral Croft, the amiable retired sailor who rents Anne’s family estate—and the romantic lead, Frederick Wentworth, Anne’s rejected, but possibly future, fiancé.
Does all this make a difference? To Caitlin Kenyon, who plays Wentworth, not really. “We can all relate to the struggles of these characters, whether they’re men or women.”
She has found it satisfying to play Wentworth, who like Anne is reserved and regretful: “He has so much emotional depth. Playing him requires me to find something masculine in myself,” which she says has occasionally surprised her with its force in her scenes with Abigail Rice, who plays Anne.
No matter who is playing it, “Persuasion” is a story by a female writer with an honest, enduring view not only of the role of women in society, but also of human relationships in general.
“Of course, being a woman colored her view of society,” says Del Buono. “But ‘Persuasion’ is great writing, not because Jane Austen is a woman, but because she’s a genius.”
The Company Theatre presents “Persuasion” Dec. 5-21 at its theater, 28 Lawn Street. Information and tickets are available here.
The Sunday, Dec. 7, performance will be followed by a reception to celebrate Jane Austen’s 250th birthday. On Wednesday, Dec. 10, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., the Company Theatre offers a Holiday Open House; more information is here.
David Raymond is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer.
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