The Austens

It’s the spring of 1810 and Jane Austen has sworn off novel-writing. Crushed by the nonpublication of her novel Susan, Jane approaches middle age determined to keep the lid on her ambitions: to take what satisfaction she can in her everyday life as a shabby-genteel spinster, appropriately grateful for the relatively comfortable home that she now shares with her mother, her beloved sister, and their best friend, Martha Lloyd. The plan is working, sort of, till the entrance of Anna—Jane’s troubled teenaged niece—packed off to Chawton Cottage by her stepmother, after she’s embarrassed the family by breaking an engagement. Anna’s recklessness and daring, her pain, and her palpable need of healing stories, gradually revive Jane’s own divine discontent and rekindle her passion for her work. For dedicated Janeites and newcomers alike, The Austens is an ode to female friendship, a love letter to frustrated artists everywhere, and a lesson in how not to let the bastards get you down.

The Holy Theatre and the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) New York Metropolitan Region cordially invite you to The Austens—a funny, fierce new dramedy by Sarah Rose Kearns, directed by Andrus Nichols and featuring Kate Hamill as Jane Austen.