Persuasion

A romantic tale of love, perseverance and rejuvenation, Jane Austen’s Persuasion pits desire against convention, cutting to the heart of the social and gender issues of early nineteenth century England. Eight years after Anne Elliot’s painful rejection of the naval officer she was betrothed to, having been convinced of his “unworthiness” by her family, she once again struggles with her rekindled and unwavering devotion. Austen’s scenes of avarice and poverty, flirtations begun and abandoned, lecherous fathers and neglectful mothers, and her ability to be a ruthless narrator who willingly savages the society she so brilliantly depicts, are all elements of her timeless and final novel, here adapted for the stage.