Don’t let the name put you off – Austentatious is a hilarious and clever show, with a talented and tireless cast.

When I first heard of Austentatious, I expected it to be yet another show aimed at Janeites and Austen devotees, a sentimental rendition of Austen’s work, complete with regulatory bonnets and heaving bosoms. But two minutes into the performance, I had to admit that, if my pride had not suffered too badly, I had definitely been guilty of prejudice. Austentatious is far from a naïve take on the novelist’s work. It is a hugely enjoyable show, an hour-long entertainment of non-stop fun and laughter in the spirit of the Austen family’s own home theatricals that will entertain Austen fans and sceptics alike.

Austentatious is advertised as ‘an improvised Jane Austen novel’, performed in Regency costume, with live musical accompaniment. The set is very simple, with a few period chairs and a screen, and two eighteenth-century-looking paintings (I looked for an Austen portrait but didn’t see one, finding myself both disappointed and relieved). Audience members are invited to contribute an imaginary novel title of any shape or form, Austen-inspired or not. One title is then picked at random and performed, but ‘titles of good wit and humour do not go without mention’. The performance that I attended was the Christmas special (well worth attending as you are treated to free mince pies), and ‘A Merry Ruse in Dainty Shoes’ was selected, with ‘Snow and Snoggability’ receiving honourable mention.

Before the actors take to the stage, the character of Dr Sam Patton, in full academic dress, welcomes the audience in a short prelude to the performance. The venerable Doctor, a celebrated ‘Jane-ographer’ from the University of Rotterdam and regular contributor to the fictional Austen Quarterly, in true scientific fashion introduces his subject: the inimitable Jane Austen. The audience learns not only that Austen loved Christmas, a rather inconsequential comment, but also that she invented the Christmas jumper. Her work is presented as ‘Pride and Prejudice – and five others’, as well as nine hundred novels that have since been lost, which Austentatious aims to revive. How did Austen manage to write so many books? The answer is very simple: ‘some of them were very bad’. This respectful irreverence sets the tone of the play, with even more ingenious nonsense to come.

The show’s link to Austen rests more in its spirit than its content. The great fun the cast clearly have at playing together, the feeling of camaraderie that dominates their performance, must not be far from the spirit that animated the Austen family’s home theatricals at Steventon rectory. If team spirit drives the play and none of the actors tries to outshine the others, it does not prevent them from playing tricks on each other. Cariad Lloyd mischievously ordered tea from her maid whilst visited by her suitor, when both parts were played by Andrew Hunter Murray. This led to a hilarious scene with Murray frantically coming up with incongruous reasons to leave the stage to then return as one or other character. The screen proved to be the object of an insatiable curiosity, allowing Murray to remove or put on his military jacket, while Lloyd expressed ever-greater impatience for her tea or for the reappearance of her guest, increasing the speed at which Murray had to transform himself, one of the great comic moments of the play.

One of the cast’s most impressive feats is their ability to construct a working narrative arc around an unknown title. By the end of the performance, the audience leaves with a story to tell, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. If it is not the most sophisticated or original plot-line, that they are able to construct a proper narrative is testimony to the actors’ talent. Each of the scenes that make up the play reaches a natural close, rarely ending abruptly or giving the impression that the actors ran out of ideas or got bored with the thread. The musicians are also able to match the speed and tone of the scenes as they are played out, as are the lighting engineers, without any obvious signals from the actors, demonstrating the professionalism of all those involved in what presents itself as light-hearted and silly nonsense.

The plot followed the conventions of romantic comedy, where the fair heroine, Grace, virtuous and pure, has to outdo the slander her selfish and malicious rivals spread as they all vie for the hero’s affection. The play opened in winter, with a middle-aged couple and lamenting the departure of their son, Winininifred, for the army four years before. The young man had left his parents’ home because he refused to follow his father’s footsteps in the print industry, but has returned to his native Wiltshire, unbeknownst to his parents. Meanwhile, the young Miss Grace is also preparing for the holiday season. Grace is an orphan, whose maid comes across a pair of red shoes her mother was wearing the day she and her husband were run over by a carriage on their way to another church, ‘that’s how pious they were’. These ‘dainty shoes’ fit Grace like a glove and are invested with a mysterious power, as they will become the instrument of Grace’s revenge on her rivals. Grace and Winininifred fall in love, but the wicked Miss Lang and Jessica Rabbit are also eager to secure the hero’s affection. They woo him with their fortune and their house, the latter being so large that ‘[they] have not explored all its corners’: a ridiculous pick-up line that is not as successful as they had hoped. Their ‘ruse’ is to tarnish Grace’s reputation and estrange Winininifred from her. All ends well though as the Misses Lang and Rabbit are unmasked, allowing Winininifred and Grace to be together. The hero is also finally reunited with his parents and they all prepare to celebrate Christmas.

The hero’s name is one of the many examples of the cast’s resourcefulness: they exploited the comic potential of a simple stammer, usually an uncomfortable blunder on stage, just as they continuously followed through any absurdist logic or incongruity that results from improvised dialogues. Nothing fazes the cast, who rise up to the challenge of any nonsense thrown their way. The actors take any mishap or blip in their stride and weave it into the play, whether it be a really preposterous line they have to pick up or a technical problem. When one of the gentlemen’s socks unfortunately decided to free itself from their breeches, rather than hurriedly attempt to adjust them, it was decided that the knee on display as a result of this unfortunate – and highly improper – incident was to become a minor character in the play, with a mind of its own. The performance is full of such instances, which can only exist within improvisation. The cast also freely mix modern English with Regency phrases, which participates in the playful and uncontrived nature of the performance. Amy Cooke-Hodgson and Cariad Lloyd, as maids, honour the memory of one of their friends and staff members by breaking into impressive vigorous modern-day dancing, leading to an ever-more uncontrolled and exuberant choreography to the complete bewilderment of the rest of the characters, sending the audience into paroxysms of laughter. Austentatious is a truly fantastic show that will never cease to surprise you.

Austentatious was performed at the Leicester Square Theatre from September to December 2014.

It is now on tour: Saturday 7th February, 8:00pm, Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead; Friday 13th February, 7:30pm, The Little Theatre; Saturday 14th February, 8:30pm, Lakeside Theatre, Colchester; Friday 20th February, 8:00pm, The Old Market, Brighton; Saturday 21st February, 7:30pm, Swindon Arts Centre; Saturday 28th February, Bath Literature Festival; Friday 13th March, 8:00pm, Norwich Playhouse; Saturday 28th March, 8:00pm, Cambridge Junction.