Emma

A Midsummer Night’s Emma

Emma

by Doon Mackichan and Martin Millar, after the novel by Jane Austen

Questors Productions at Pitzhanger Manor, Walpole Park, Ealing, until 28^thJune

Review by Andrew Lawston

The picturesque green space of Walpole Park is the perfect setting for outdoor theatre, and Pitzhanger Manor the perfect backdrop for a Jane Austen adaptation. And the weather could not have been kinder as we sit under bright sunshine in folding chairs for the Questors production of Emma, in an adaptation by Doon Mackichan and Martin Millar.

This versionis a bright and breezy affair, perfect for a summer evening. Jane Austen has just finished her latest manuscript, Emma, and her nieces sneak into her room to read it. Performed at pace, and without an interval, the play is largely performed by Jane Austen’s nieces who make a big entrance in period dresses accessorised with huge sunglasses, while Austen herself generally lounges in chairs at the side of the stage, dropping in occasional plot details, and seemingly terribly amused by the whole production. Played with visible glee by Priya Patel, Austen also takes on the key role of Mr Knightley, switching between the two by an impressive shift in body language, but also through the fun motif of putting on or removing a large pair of glasses.

One of Jane Austen’s best-known novels, Emma relates the adventures of Miss Emma Woodhouse, a wealthy young lady who lives with her eccentric father, and amuses herself by acting as an amateur matchmaker within her community. The play opens with Emma in high spirits after pairing up her governess with Mr Weston. She decides to try and find an advantageous match for her friend Harriet Smith, encouraging her to reject a proposal from local farmer Robert Martin.

As Emma (Caitlyn Vary, in a compelling central performance that sets the pace for the production) weaves her matchmaking plans, while maintaining that she has no intentions of ever marrying herself, friend of the family Mr Knightley looks on in disapproval. Their friendly but fractious relationship forms the heart of the show and is thoroughly believable. honour

On Nikoleta Stefanova’s lightly-furnished set (a chaise longue, a few chairs, and a writing desk which doubles as a pianoforte), the nieces are all great fun, both as Jane Austen’s nieces (“I never get to play anyone!”) and when they acquire minimal costume details to become characters such as Miss Bates (a wonderfully lisping and breathless Isabella Cottrell Kirby), Jane Fairfax (Sophie George, in the production’s finest display of “air-pianoforte” playing), Mrs Elton and Mrs Weston (Dina Fahmy, who is fun as Mrs Weston but a positive delight as the West Country-accented Mrs Elton), and Harriet Smith (Eloise McCreedy, who captures Harriet’s zest for life in the extremes between dancing for joy and frequently bursting into floods of tears at her romantic disappointments).

The cast is completed by two male actors. Nick Thomas plays Mr Elton, Mr Woodhouse, Robert Martin, and various servants, changing hats and characters with blistering speed throughout the play. Meanwhile, every Austen story needs its cad, and Anoop Jagan delivers an absurdly charismatic performance as the dashing Frank Churchill.

Rachel Moorhead’s direction keeps the pace up throughout the play. Where musical interludes pop up, from the Jackson Five to a perfectly timed snippet from Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know”, they never outstay their welcome. There is just enough of the song to convey the joke before the action moves on.

As the evening rolls on, the park becomes quieter, the shadows lengthen, and even the distinctly anachronistic parakeets gradually fall silent, as the show becomes ever more engrossing. We found ourselves wishing we’d brought along a punnet of strawberries to match the story’s excursion to Box Hill, but luckily Mrs Elton begins tossing packets of seeds into the audience.

Adapting Emma into a romantic comedy for a summer evening is an inspired choice, as all of the elements are there already. Contemporary adaptations of Jane Austen are increasingly popular, but this show stands head and shoulders above most, partly through sticking closely to the source text, and partly through the infectious enthusiasm of everyone involved. The result is a wonderfully fresh celebration of a classic novel in idyllic surroundings, the perfect way to spend a midsummer’s evening.

Andrew Lawston, June 2025

Photography by Robert Vass