The cast of EMMA visit The Pump Rooms as Jane Austen celebrations begin

Earlier this week, cast members of Emma - a new stage adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel – visited the beautiful Pump Room restaurant in Bath for afternoon tea, celebrating the launch of the 10 day long Jane Austen Festival which begins from Friday 12 September, the 250^th anniversary year of Jane Austen’s birth and the opening of this brand new stage adaptation from Theatre Royal Bath Productions. The actors in stunning regency costume also took a stroll through the Georgian splendour of the city, which encapsulates the backdrop for many of Austen’s characters and stories.

Adapted by Ryan Craig and directed by Stephen Unwin, the production appears at the Theatre Royal Bath until Saturday 20 September, prior to a national tour.

The cast includes rising star India Shaw-Smith, soon to be seen on TV in Spartacus: House of Ashur, as Austen’s heroine Emma Woodhouse, alongside Oscar Batterham as Philip Elton, William Chubb as Mr Woodhouse, Jade Kennedy as Jane Fairfax, Peter Losasso as Frank Churchill, Rose Quentin as Augusta Hawkins, Daniel Rainford as Robert Martin, Ed Sayer as George Kinightley, Maiya Louise Thapar as Harriet Smith, with Jordan Kilshaw, Lukwesa Mwamba, Charlie Norton, Hugh Osborne and Jordan Stamatiadis as understudies.

Emma is adapted by Ryan Craig, whose recent works includes the world premiere of Charlotte and Theodore starring Kris Marshall in the Ustinov Studio and 1984 starring Keith Allen in the Main House. In 2005 he won an Edinburgh Festival Fringe First for Broken Road and was nominated for Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Awards for What We Did to Weinstein at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Award-winning British theatre and opera director Stephen Unwin has directed almost 100 professional productions. In 1993, he founded English Touring Theatre and in 2008, he became Artistic Director of the new Rose Theatre in Kingston, which he ran until January 2014. Stephen has written five original plays including Laughing Boy which opened at Jermyn Street Theatre in 2024 and appeared at the Theatre Royal Bath.

A fantastic creative team includes set and costume design by Ceci Caff, lighting design by Ben Ormerod, sound design by John Leonard, casting director is Ginny Schiller CDG, associate director is Millie Gaston, choreographer is Natasha Harrison, with composition by Matthew Scott.

Following its opening performances in Bath, the production will tour to venues across the UK including Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford; Birmingham Rep; Sheffield Lyceum; Malvern Theatre; Oxford Playhouse; Chichester Festival Theatre and Lighthouse, Poole.