DORSET has a special connection with Jane Austen, and what better way for theatre groups in the county to celebrate her 250th anniversary than with a production of Persuasion, with its famous and critical scenes in Lyme Regis? Dorchester Drama is staging Persuasion at the Corn Exchange on 21st and 22nd November.
This book, Austen’s final completed novel, was published posthumously. Set largely in the West Country, including final scenes in Bath, it is a tale of love rejected but rekindled and told with Austen’s trademark social observation and wit. The production uses a script adapted from the novel by former Dorchester Drama alum Jo Bradley.
Persuasion is the story of Anne Elliot who unexpectedly finds herself in the company of her spurned suitor, Capt Frederick Wentworth, after eight years apart. Now aged 27, Anne is considered ‘ancient’ and fears the good captain will overlook her in favour of a younger bride. But will true love find a way?
The role of Anne is played by Gemma Higgins, making her Dorchester Drama debut, while Wentworth is brought to life by Sean Colledge.
Gemma said: “Playing Anne has been an epic experience. She’s every woman who has ever taken a risk on love, felt the uncertainty of trusting her life to someone or felt that nervous spark of being in love for the first time. This is my first performance with DD and I’m thrilled that the directors have trusted me and the rest of the cast have been so welcoming and supportive.”
Sean said: “Wentworth is battling the agony of previous rejection with the joy of falling in love all over again.”
The cast includes Martin Stephen as Anne’s vain and snobbish widowed father Sir Walter Elliot, Dee Thorne as Anne’s ‘second mother’ Lady Russell, Theresa Austin and Tilda Samson as Anne’s sisters Elizabeth and Mary. Colin Davidson plays William Elliot, Anne’s wealthy cousin and sometime suitor.
Jo Bradley says: “The work of adapting the novel was made very easy for me by the author herself. Jane Austen’s wit, her wry reflections on the human condition, her complex characterisation, and her asides which make the reader complicit in the telling of the story, all lend themselves to a staged retelling.”
Persuasion is at Dorchester Arts on Friday and Saturday, 21st and 22nd November at 7.30pm with a Saturday matinee at 2pm. For tickets, visit dorchesterarts.org.uk or call 01305 266926
Rehearsal photographs show Anne Elliot (Gemma Higgins) with Lady Russell (Dee Thorne); and Capt Wentworth (Sean Colledge) trying to catch Louisa Musgrove (Charlotte Lidgley-Ryan) as she jumps off Lyme Regis Cobb