Playhouse On Park

Event Guide

Table of Contents

Sponsors

PRODUCING PARTNER

SEASON SPONSORS

PLAYOUSE PARTNERS

PLAYHOUSE FRIENDS

Adams & Knight

The Hartman Foundation

Hertz Herson

Lux Bond & Green

Plymouth Realty

Richard & Lea Rubenstein

Waypoint Wealth Solutions

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY

Program

Playhouse Theatre Group, Inc.

CO-FOUNDER/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
TRACY FLATER

CO-FOUNDER/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
SEAN HARRIS

CO-FOUNDER/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
DARLENE ZOLLER

presents
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF
JANE AUSTEN, ABRIDGED

By
JESSICA BEDFORD, KATHRYN MACMILLAN,
CHARLOTTE NORTHEAST, and MEGHAN WINCH

Director KATHRYN MACMILLAN		Scenic Designer JOHANN FITZPATRICK
Lighting Designer CHRISTOPHER CHAMBERS	Sound Designer KIRK RUBY		Costume Designer BARBARA ERIN DELO
Props Master JUDI MANFRE		Production Stage Manager REBECCA DONAGHY

CAST

Charlotte Charlotte Northeast*

Brittany Brittany Onukwugha

Mike Shannon Michael Wamser*

*The Actor appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association,
the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

This show runs 85 minutes with no intermission.

Setting: A historic home

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF JANE AUSTEN, ABRIDGED
is presented by arrangement with
Gurman Agency LLC. www.gurmanagency.com

THE VIDEOTAPING OR MAKING OF ELECTRONIC OR OTHER AUDIO AND/OR VIDEO RECORDINGS OF THIS PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTING RECORDINGS OR STREAMS IN ANY MEDIUM, INCLUDING THE INTERNET, IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED, A VIOLATION OF THE AUTHOR(S)’S RIGHTS AND ACTIONABLE UNDER UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT LAW.

Words From The Director

As I write this, I’m making the journey from my home in Philadelphia up to West Hartford to begin rehearsals there. It puts to mind the ‘journey’ of our play,The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged,a comedy that I co-wrote with dearest longtime collaborators, and have directed in three productions since we premiered in 2018. I’m so happy the journey has brought our show to you. Here’s a little of our backstory, and what I hope you’ll take away from our loving homage to all things Jane Austen.

Around 2017, a title popped into my head, a nod to the hit comedy The Complete Works of Shakespeare,Abridged, wherein three Americans attempt to perform the entire Shakespearean canon. I approached the actors Jessica Bedford and Charlotte Northeast—friends I’d directed many times before, from Jane Austen adaptations to Noel Coward to Tom Stoppard. I knew well their comic gifts and their love for Jane Austen. Along with Meghan Winch, the best dramaturg in Philadelphia, and Harry Smith (a British actor based in Philly, and our friend) we set to work.

In the first few months, we struggled with what the play was going to be. We knew it must necessarily be different than Shakespeare, Abridged—the sustaining joke of that play is that the players don’t know much about Shakespeare and don’t feel qualified to perform his works. But here we were, five Janeites,already engaged in arguments about which novel was best (is it Pride and Prejudice? Or Persuasion?)Then Harry called me, apologetic, that he’d just booked a gig in New York, a long contract at Irish Rep. I woke up in the middle of the night and wrote a draft of the play’s first scene.

Once we replaced Harry with another actor for our Philly run, the play found its shape. He wasn’t familiar with the novels’ plots, or the in-jokes of Jane Austen fandom, and his questions kept us honest about the clarity of our writing. It helped us see that the world of our play shouldn’t just be for Janeites—that we’d be most successful if we could create an experience that speaks to newcomers as well as Janeites like ourselves. In so doing, we’ve found the delight of spreading Jane Austen’s artistry to others.

Since that first production, Jessica has become the mom of two little boys and Brittany, also a new comer to the world of Jane Austen, has stepped into her role and made it her own. We are delighted that Playhouse on Park, in this all-new production, wanted me and members of the Philly cast to take part and share this world with you, one that is so personal and meaningful to us. We hope you enjoy it.

Kathryn MacMillan