Dot Productions weather the storm

Posted on 29th August 2023

It was with some trepidation that I made my way to the grounds of the Oaksmere for Dot Production’s open air performance of their adaptation of Jane Austin’s Persuasion. The heavens had opened only moments before and I wondered whether anyone was going to turn up for such a soggy afternoon. Fortunately, the good folk of Diss and Eye are made of sterner stuff, turned up in great number, and were rewarded by being ushered into a marquee.

Inside, the company made good use of the found space to showcase one of Austen’s lesser-known novels that nonetheless is crammed with classic Austin tropes – eavesdropped conversations, foolish vanity, charming villains and fussy families all contributed to a labyrinthine plot. The performances were broad, borne out, I suspect, of having to make yourself heard outside, but infectious good humour was evident throughout, and the cast obviously had great fun wrestling with the complexity of the novel’s plot. Both Holly Baynes and Sophie Todd wore a bewildering selection of bonnets (and even the occasional moustache) to play a host of supporting characters with chameleon-like skill, while Susie Garvey-Williams and Dom Thomson sensibly focused on protagonist Anne Elliot and her suitor Captain Wentworth. It was left to Andrew Lindfield to break the fourth wall to winning effect, stepping out of character every so often to strike just the right note of self-aware silliness.

Despite cheekily acknowledging the author’s tendency to sermonise, the company managed to draw from the source material the surprisingly modern themes of missed opportunity, misplaced priorities and snobbish distain. While unafraid to occasionally poke fun at the challenges of condensing the novel for the stage, this was actually a remarkably faithful re-imagining of Austen’s commentary on the perils of pernicious influence.