The Watermill presents Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, adapted and redirected by Jessica Swale.

From Thursday 3 April to Saturday 10 May 2014

The Watermill is delighted to announce its next production of Jane Austen’s much loved classic Sense and Sensibility, which will play from Thursday 3 April 2014 to Saturday 10 May in a brand new adaptation by Jessica Swale.

Left penniless after their wealthy uncle cheats them of their fortune, sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are forced to leave the comforts of Norland Park and relocate to a cold Devonshire cottage. But when a devilishly handsome stranger arrives at Barton Cottage with the rain-drenched Marianne in his arms, the Dashwood girls are convinced that their fortunes are about to change forever. Impulsive Marianne loses herself in the idea of her hero on horseback, and for a girl who feasts on poetry and music, what else is there to do in Devon but dream of rescue? In Austen’s dearly loved classic, we follow the fortunes of the two Dashwood sisters as they chase their dreams from Devonshire to London and back.

Jessica Swale is a theatre director, playwright and co-founder of Red Handed Theatre Company. Jessica made her directorial debut at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2010 with Bedlam, the first play by a female playwright ever to be staged at the venue. Other work as director includes The School for Scandal (Park Theatre), Sleuth (Watermill Theatre), The Busy Body, The Belle’s Stratagem (Evening Standard Award nomination) and The Rivals (all at Southwark Playhouse), and as Associate Director Jessica has worked with companies including Shakespeare’s Globe, Hampstead Theatre and Out of Joint. Jessica’s first full length play Blue Stockings premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe in August 2013.

Jessica Swale said today: “I’ve loved Austen since picking up a copy of Pride and Prejudice as a teenager. The BBC was partly responsible; Colin Firth’s now infamous lake dip left us all drenched, hooked and wondering how a nineteenth century woman could be so honest and insightful about relationships when most women of her time were hidden away. The fact that Austen was such a success is testament to her ability to draw real life so convincingly in words, and the job of adapting it for stage has been both a thrilling and intimidating process.”

The cast features Paul Bigley as John Dashwood, Jane Booker as Fanny Dashwood, Jenny Funnell as Mrs Dashwood, Alice Haig as Margaret Dashwood, Cassie Layton as Marianne Dashwood, Graham O’Mara as Edward Ferrars, Peter Ormond as Colonel Brandon, William Owen as Willoughby and Sally Scott as Elinor Dashwood. Sense and Sensibility is designed by Philip Engleheart