Northanger Abbey, a New Play by Zoe Cooper
Zoe Cooper’s new play adapts Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and she takes Austen’s protagonist, Catherine Morland, on a whole new journey.
19 December 2023
A new adaptation of Jane Austen's novel
Zoe Cooper’s new play adapts Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and she takes Austen’s protagonist, Catherine Morland, on a whole new journey.
‘Catherine Morland knows little of the world, but who needs real-life experience when you have novels to guide you? Catherine seizes her chance to escape her claustrophobic family and join the smart set in Bath. Between balls and parties, she meets worldly, sophisticated Isabella Thorpe – Iz, to her friends – and so Cath’s very own adventure begins.’
The play is co-produced by Orange Tree Theatre with Octagon Theatre Bolton, the Stephen Joseph Theatre Scarborough and Theatre by the Lake. The play will run on an extended tour from 20 January, with a month each in Richmond, Scarborough, Bolton and Keswick, and will then be available online for a short period in May 2024.
The search for identity
The play is a co-production with Orange Tree Theatre. They also produced Zoe’s 2016 play, Jess and Joe Forever, her 2019 play Out of Water and 2021's The Kiss. The Guardian wrote of Out of Water that
'Whatever it is that distinguishes rare writing talent, Zoe Cooper has got it.'
The critic Michael Billington's review of Jess and Joe Forever praised how ‘Cooper conveys the separate nature of an adolescent world full of secrets, anxiety and search for identity’ and drew comparisons with Carson McCullers and JD Salinger. The playwright’s Northanger Abbey returns to this territory.