Review: Northanger Abbey, Theatre by the Lake, Keswick

Jun 8 2010 by Alan Sykes

THE central theme of Northanger Abbey is gentle mockery of the then fashionable mania for gothic horror stories, as exemplified by Ann Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho.

Udolpho, although still in print, is now known mainly thanks to Jane Austen. Ironic, in retrospect, as Radcliffe’s works massively outsold Jane Austen’s while they were alive.

Catherine Moreland, the heroine, is an impressionable teenager obsessed by the gothic in general and Udolpho in particular, and she sees sinister intent in the most mundane circumstances.

In one amusing scene, she convinces herself that the chest in her room contains sinister hidden secrets, when all it conceals is old bed linen. Catherine is ably played by Vanessa Johnson, capturing the heroine’s youthful charm without making her appear improbable, even if she is sometimes possibly a little over-excited. Her scheming friend Isabella Thorpe is also well captured by Rebecca Elliot.

Isabella’s brother, the boorish braggart John Thorpe, is played with zest by Andrew Grose.

James Hogg plays Henry Tilney with affable gentleness and Amy Ewbank is his quietly sensible sister, Eleanor.

It is not easily adapted for stage and, indeed, unlike Pride & Prejudice and other Austen novels, has not been adapted for television with much success.

Tim Luscombe, who adapted it for this production, uses the melodramatic elements of Udolpho to contrast Catherine’s ordinary life, saying: “Thus, the Quality Street box loveliness that so often goes hand in hand with period drama is neatly avoided.”

Although the swift scene changes – between various places around Bath and at Northanger – are excellently carried out, the whole play could benefit from being cut back by 20 minutes or so. But it’s still a highly enjoyable night out.