ADAPTING NORTHANGER ABBEY - GUEST POST BY NOEL BYRNE (BOX TALE SOUP)

When we first set out to adapt Northanger Abbey we didn't think too much about the potential difficulties, which was probably a good thing! Austen has so many fans around the world, and you have to respect that in your treatment of the material. It was our enjoyment of the original novel that made us want to adapt it in the first place, and I hope our fondness for Austen's writing comes across in the show. I think some people may look at the production photos and assume it's some kind of spoof, which it absolutely isn't. We use puppets help us tell the story, but they're not remotely incongruous. In fact, thanks to the wonderful way puppetry works, you quickly forget that they're puppets at all, and simply see the characters they're playing.

Fortunately there's a lot of dialogue in the book, some of which can be used verbatim, but then you have to decide how you're going to bridge the gaps and tell the rest of the story. We felt very strongly that the authorial voice was an important part of the novel and a big part of Austen's style – even today her wit feels remarkably fresh and we didn't want to lose any of that, so we ended up with a narrator character. He's quite good fun in fact, and allows a playful connection with the audience too.

MARIA GRACE, ALL THE APPEARANCE OF GOODNESS: GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

Given Good Principles is a three part series that explores what Jane Austen’s’ Pride and Prejudice’ might have looked like if Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth’s prejudice no longer played a central role in their relationship. For both, mentors and situations provide opportunities for reflection and growth, making them very different people when they meet.Our beloved characters remain true to their essentials while they make different and arguably better decisions throughout.

In the first volume of the Given Good Principles series, Darcy’s Decision, Fitzwilliam Darcy faces the challenges presented, when, in the midst of dealing with Wickham’s attempt to compromise Georgiana, he discovers his father’s darkest secrets. With the help of his mentor, Mr. Bradley, Darcy struggles to overcome some of the blackest moments of his life.

In Volume 2, The Future Mrs. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet struggles to reign in her sister when the regiment comes to visit Meryton.  To her shock, she learns that Lydia  has endangered the reputation of the entire family and it is up to her, with the help of her Aunt Gardiner’s advice and Mr. Pierce, the local curate, to keep her family from social ruin.

AUSTEN INSPIRED MOVIES: SOMETHING GOOD, SOMETHING USELESS

It's Friday again. How was your week? Mine was filled with chores, school work, deadlines but with a bit of  Jane Austen. As you know, I love watching movies, especially romantic comedies. If they are Austen–related or Austen-inspired, I literally can’t resist having a look, even when they are introduced to me as not very good. I hardly ever like what I insist on seeing after hearing negative comments,  but I feel the duty to give everything Austen a chance,  so I add  it to my “to be seen” list. This week I've watched one of these films and re-watched a good one I like.

AUSTEN ON STAGE: "FITZWILLIAM LOVES LIZZY" - MEET MAGGIE HERSKOWITZ, PROTAGONIST AND PLAYWRIGHT OF THE SHOW

Maggie Herskowitz came to love Jane Austen thanks to her best friend and being an actress and a playwright has now decided to make one of her dreams come true: to be Elizabeth Bennet in an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice for the stage. She'll be in a very special version that she herself wrote: Fitzwilliam loves Lizzy. Discover more about the show that is going to debut soon in New York City reading Maggie's guest post. If only I didn't live so far ... 

It all started with an apartment in Boston. I shared it with my best friend, a girl whose sister’s first name is “Jane” and whose middle name is “Austen.” No joke. This is the environment into which I was thrust by association with her family. By the time I lived with her nearly two years, I knew more about the Brontes, Emily Dickinson, and Miss Jane Austen than I would have ever thought possible . . . more than I think I ever wanted to know. But she had definitely piqued my interest and brought an author at the edges of my mind to the forefront of my awareness.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS, A BIT OF PREJUDICE AND ... WOW! THE LIZZIE BENNET DIARIES!

I'm stunned at how little I've learnt from reading Pride and Prejudice so many times in my life. Why do I resist the main lesson in it? Never trust first impressions, they may be pretty deceitful and often wrong. But,  nope, I go on and on making the same old mistake. 

Darcy & Lizzie Bennet

I give something, which I already think I won't like,  a quick look and then I dismiss it before even starting actually getting the gist of it and this happens, you know,  because of my  tendency to pre-conceptions. However,  like Lizzie,  I 'm ready to recognize my mistakes, reconsider and fall deeply in love with "what" I proudly rejected at first.

The "what" I'm thinking of is the popular Youtube series "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries" , for  the discovery of which I must thank the persistent warm recommendations of my Janeite pal Monica, who wrote me more than once asking me why I wasn't watching and writing about it.