‘Northanger Abbey’ makes its American premiere at Shaker Bridge

By Vicki Ferentinos

Special to the Standard

Jane Austen may have written “Northanger Abbey” more than 200 years ago, but something tells me she might be quite intrigued by what’s happening to her story in White River Junction this October. Shaker Bridge Theatre opened its 19th season with the American premiere of “Northanger Abbey,” a contemporary adaptation by playwright Zoe Cooper, running Oct. 8-25 at the Briggs Opera House (5 S. Main Street, White River Junction).

If you’re expecting a traditional Jane Austen production filled with polite conversation, elaborate costumes and the pursuit of a suitable husband, you may be in for a pleasant surprise. Director Bill Coons discovered the play while exploring productions at smaller theaters overseas.

“One of my favorite theaters to look at is the Orange Tree Theatre in London,” Coons explained. “It seemed fascinating to me conceptually.”

After contacting the playwright’s agent and obtaining a copy of the script, he read it and fell in love with it. What captured his imagination was Cooper’s ability to take Austen’s familiar themes of love, longing and social expectations and explore them through a modern lens.

“To me, it has to do with finding a way to fulfill or connect with the drive you call love,” Coons said.

Coons explained that relationships that would have been impossible to openly pursue in Austen’s time can now be explored in ways that open up entirely new possibilities.

“It’s a take on love that was repressed that isn’t anymore,” he said. “Plus, it’s really, really funny.” The entire production is performed by three actors, two women and one man, who switch among multiple characters throughout the story, crossing traditional gender boundaries along the way. “It makes gender very fluid and fun,” Coons said, explaining that the production embraces actors transforming from one character to another right before the audience’s eyes.

At the center of the story is Catherine, a 17-year-old whose imagination may be her greatest gift and her biggest obstacle. Molly Kate Babos, who plays Catherine, describes her character as a young woman coming of age in a restrictive society, with her head firmly planted in the romantic and Gothic novels she loves.

“Instead of looking in front of her and reading other human interactions, she lives in her imagination,” Babos said. “She has all these ideas of what her life is going to be.”

Catherine is, according to Babos, “very silly, open and not afraid to take big swings.”

It’s a quality the actress understands personally. Babos recalled reading Judy Blume novels in middle school and heading off to school imagining life would unfold just like the stories, only to discover reality had other plans. That disconnect between fantasy and reality is part of what makes Catherine so relatable, even two centuries after Austen created her. “When you first make your way out into the world, she makes a lot of blunders and mistakes,” Babos said. “And she handles it with a lot of grace.” Babos said her favorite childhood book was Anne of Green Gables, reflecting her longtime affection for quirky, imaginative characters who often feel like fish out of water.

This production of “Northanger Abbey” isn’t simply a retelling of Austen’s novel with modern dialogue.

“I feel like we are taking some of the topics and ideas in the book and expanding on them without the restrictions society may have had,” Babos said.

The production explores love, identity, queerness, and the possibilities that emerge when people begin to question the futures they once imagined for themselves. I find this very relatable and a human experience directly related to the times one may be living in.

It also raises a surprisingly contemporary question: How much of our lives do we spend lost in stories rather than experiencing what’s actually happening around us?

Babos shared an observation from her boyfriend, who pointed out that Catherine’s obsession with novels isn’t so different from the way people today can become absorbed in social media.

Different centuries, different distractions, same human tendency to disappear into another world. I find myself doing that as I drive through the fall foliage, caught in a daydream.

For Coons, who founded Shaker Bridge Theatre “to bring provocative contemporary work to Upper Valley audiences,” the production offers both laughter and something deeper to think about. He is particularly excited for audiences to experience the final scene before intermission, as well as what he describes as a powerful ending. And what might Jane Austen herself think if she could walk into the Briggs Opera House and watch this interpretation of her work? Coons imagined she might simply say, “Thank you.”

Perhaps Cooper’s adaptation brings something to the surface that was present in Austen’s original story all along, but couldn’t be openly expressed in her time.

Babos hopes audiences leave the theater inspired to revisit the classics, read the original novel and continue talking about its themes long after the curtain falls.

After all, love and imagination are universal themes that make life full, rich and at times extraordinary.

“Northanger Abbey” by Zoe Cooper, presented by Shaker Bridge Theatre, runs through October 25 at the Briggs Opera House. For reservations, call 802-281-6848 or email boxoffice@shakerbridge.org. The in-person box office opens one hour before performances.

‘Northanger Abbey’

Shaker Bridge Theatre Briggs Opera House, White River Jct.

Runs now through Oct. 25

For reservations call 802-281-6848 or email boxoffice@shakerbridge.org

Shaker Bridge Theatre opens its 19th season with the American premiere of “Northanger Abbey.”

Kata Sasvari Photo

Three actors portray multiple characters in Shaker Bridge Theatre’s production of “Northanger Abbey,” switching roles and crossing traditional gender boundaries throughout the performance. Kata Sasvari Photo

Jane Austen’s classic tale gets a modern twist in Shaker Bridge Theatre’s “Northanger Abbey,” a lively adaptation that explores love, identity and the expectations society places on relationships.

Kata Sasvari Photo