Emma (NHB Modern Plays)

A bold, witty and fresh adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel which, while thoroughly modern, retains the spirit and much of the language of the original.

It is night and an exhausted Jane Austen sleeps over the recently completed manuscript of her novel Emma. Her four nieces steal in and decide to act out the text and, after her initial anger on being wakened, Jane herself takes the role of Mr Knightley. The excitable teenage girls often try to take the story into their own realms of fantasy but are always brought back to the real text by Jane.

'full of life and vitality – an admirably lively, daringly provocative adaptation' - Daily Telegraph

'ebullient and mischievous' - The Times