★★★☆☆
Marketed as a retelling for the Brat-Bridgerton generation, this Christmas season sees The Abbey Theatre stage a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s novel Emma. With over 200 years having elapsed since Austen’s novel was published, director Claire O’Reilly presents writer Kate Hamilton’s modern stage adaptation of the novel. This is not a Regency era presentation of the tale but rather an adaptation that takes the rough trajectories of the characters and offers a fun rendition of their fates in a parallel unspecified realm. The question remains as to whether the production manages to maintain the essence of Austen’s genius, despite its seeming inability to trust the audience to discern the wit and wisdom of the tale.
“Her portrayal is as vibrant as the character of the page and captures the multidimensionality of a young woman who does not quite know herself, but thinks that she does”
Toni O’Rourke, a regular of the screen, is mesmerising on the stage in her depiction of Emma. Her portrayal is as vibrant as the character of the page and captures the multidimensionality of a young woman who does not quite know herself, but thinks that she does. An oft-repeated phrase in the production comes when Mr Knightly, played by Patrick Martins, schools, “You can’t control everything, Emma,” and she cheekily replies, “but isn’t it fun to watch me try?” O’Rourke and the rest of the team certainly make it fun. The set, designed by Molly O’Cathain, is beautiful, combining regal blue with bursting hot pinks to match the mismatched energy of the production itself. The costumes, by Catherine Fay, similarly straddle the hybridity of the setting, working in tandem with the rest of the visuals to keep the production coherent. The performances of the minor characters are bolstering, with Clare Barrett as Miss Bates earning many a well deserved laugh, Ciara Berkely as Jane Fairfax proving the perfect formidable opponent to Emma, and Liz FitzGibbon as Mrs Weston granting both humour and grounding as the mother figure in the form of governess that every young girl would be well served by.
“At times the play is raunchily irreverent; the second act sees a vibrator cameo, strobe light enhanced sex scenes, and comical make-outs accompanied by high-pitched moaning”
At times the play is raunchily irreverent; the second act sees a vibrator cameo, strobe light enhanced sex scenes, and comical make-outs accompanied by high-pitched moaning. These gags are punctuated by sincere moments which are as jarring as they are welcome. Emma comes to realise that her meddlesome ways are brought forth in the absence of other occupations being available to her as an upper class woman. She eventually overcomes her internalisation of the social stigma associated with a woman of her station pursuing an occupation and commits herself to working for the betterment of other young girls and women through teaching. Her hope is that things might change through her actions with the passage of generations. The social commentary with which the play is endowed is accordingly honourable and the resolution to the play is the resolution that we want: a realisation of character growth and a recognition of a love that was in fact ever present.
The timelessness of Austen’s themes is captured with the production’s portrayal of the age-old pressure to find love within one’s assigned socioeconomic bracket and in accordance with one’s social standing. Yet the adaptation is somewhat noncommittal as to the period in which it is set. The audience, upon entering the theatre, is greeted by the sounds of Charli XCX and Chapell Roan. The period in question is liminal; there is Austen inflected language alongside a hint at the homoerotic (a kiss between two women), a lack of technology followed by an open sex scene, and a ball that is in actual fact more of a rave. While this liminality works for the majority of the play, there are moments, such as when Mrs Weston laments the lack of opportunities available to young educated women, that the lack of a clear period setting limits what the script can achieve.
“It would be nice if the audience could be more trusted to discern the meaning behind certain gestures rather than being told what each inflection is supposed to imply”
Many of the unconventional adaptational elements seem rendered towards making the tale more accessible and engaging to the modern audience. There are features of this that work well. Emma’s frequent breaking of the fourth wall, achieved through her talking directly to the audience, effectively allows us into the intimacy of her thoughts and emotions. The humorous nature of these addresses is also well-wrought, and the other characters’ awareness that Emma is monologuing adds candor. Other direct addresses to the audience, however, teeter on the brink of pantomime, something which, despite the proliferation of comical characters throughout Austen’s repertoire, is not needed in a depiction of a tale that is, in itself, equal parts witty and wise. It would be nice if the audience could be more trusted to discern the meaning behind certain gestures rather than being told what each inflection is supposed to imply. Similarly, there are moments when the story’s own wit could speak for itself without the unnecessary addition of cheaper gags.
If you come to The Abbey looking for a depiction that is true to Austen’s words, you will likely leave disgruntled at the scale of irreverence. If, however, you approach this adaptation with an open-mind eager to see one way that the story of Emma can be told, you are likely to have, at the very least, a highly enjoyable evening at the theatre.
Emma will run at The Abbey Theatre until January 25th 2025
