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The Watsons

Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy  /  9w, 10m

Based on Jane Austen's incomplete novel, this sparklingly witty play looks under her bonnet and asks: What can characters do when their author abandons them?

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    9w, 10m

Details

Summary

What happens when the writer loses the plot? Emma Watson is 19 and new in town. She's been cut off by her rich aunt and dumped back in the family home. Emma and her sisters must marry, fast.

If not, they face poverty, spinsterhood, or worse: an eternity with their boorish brother and his awful wife. Luckily there are plenty of potential suitors to dance with, from flirtatious Tom Musgrave to castle-owning Lord Osborne, who's as awkward as he is rich. So far so familiar.

But there's a problem: Jane Austen didn't finish the story. Who will write Emma's happy ending now? Based on her incomplete novel, this sparklingly witty play looks under the bonnet of Jane Austen and asks: What can characters do when their author abandons them?

History
The Watsons had its world premiere performance at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, on 3 November 2018. It transferred to the Menier Chocolate Factory, London, and had its first performance on 20 September 2019.

EMMA WATSON 
ELIZABETH WATSON
MARGARET WATSON
ROBERT WATSON
MRS ROBERT
MR WATSON
NANNY
TOM MUSGRAVE
LORD OSBORNE
LADY OSBORNE
MISS OSBORNE
MR HOWARD
CHARLES HOWARD
MRS EDWARDS
MR EDWARDS
OFFICERS OF THE MILITIA
GUESTS AT AN ASSEMBLY
LAURA

Media

“Playful, clever and inventive.” – The Arts Desk

“Wade has seized on [the] tension between authorial control and imaginative freedom to create a stunning play.” – The Guardian

ON BREAKING CHARACTER

Alternative Austen: New Adaptations and Fresh Versions of Jane Austen Classics

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.
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Scripts

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Authors

Laura Wade

Laura Wade is a playwright and screenwriter. Her recent plays include The Watsons (Chichester Festival Theatre and Menier Chocolate Factory), and Home, I’m Darling (National Theatre, Theatr Clwyd and the Duke of York’s Theatre) which won the 2019 Olivier Award for Best New C ...

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