Natural Theatre Company will be premiering
their theatrical take on Lady Susan, Austen’s
epistolary novel, in matinee and evening
performances. Another Pride & Prejudice
celebrity visiting the festival this year is
Susannah Harker, who played Jane Bennet
in the 1995 BBC adaptation; Susannah and
her sister Nelly will present their production
Yours, Jane Austen on September 21.
Dr Amy Frost, from the Bath
Preservation Trust, will delight us with two
talks, ‘The buildings you don’t know in Jane
Austen’ (September 16) and ‘It’s not Rosings:
What’s wrong with locations in Austen
Adaptations?’ (September 22), as well as her
tour of Beckford’s Tower on September 15.
Throughout the week there are walks with
titles such as ‘Crime in the time of Jane
Austen’, ‘A Novel Experience’, ‘Dubious
Wealth and Questionable Freedoms’, ‘The
Five Crescents’, and ‘Jane Austen and Bath’.
Some of the walks are led by Bath Parade
Guides, who are also providing a day trip to
Bristol, Clifton and Blaise Castle.
The programme of talks and
demonstrations includes ‘Regency Ice
Cream’, ‘A Tendency to Some Particular
Evil’ (a look at Austen’s villains), ‘To be fond
of dancing...’, ‘Kitchens and Cooking in
Jane Austen’s England’, ‘Layers of Austen’ (a
rummage through Regency underclothing),
‘Adapting Austen’ and ‘What matters in Jane
Austen?’ with the ever-popular Professor
John Mullan (September 21).
There are more events than ever before,
with several workshops including a whole
‘Day of Dance’ with the Jane Austen Dancers
at the Assembly Rooms, as well as three
separate dance workshops; Bath Theatrical
Costume Hire are bringing their expertise to