Review: Tales of a Jane Austen Spinster, The Courtyard Theatre

Alexandra Jorgensen‘s one-woman show Tales of a Jane Austen Spinster arrives at the Courtyard Theatre with the best of intentions and no shortage of genuine feeling, tackling the premise of an Austen heroine seeking love in the modern world. The problem isn’t the heart behind the project – it’s that the execution never quite matches the ambition of its central conceit.

Jorgensen plays Lilliana, supposedly a forgotten character from Austen’s unpublished works, who claws her way out of her manuscript determined to complete her story. The premise tantalises with multiple possibilities: will it examine modern romance’s failings through the fresh eyes of someone encountering them for the first time? Could it illuminate how unfinished stories live in cultural memory? What follows, however, is a familiar fish-out-of-water comedy that rarely ventures beyond surface-level culture shock as Lilliana encounters dating apps, unsolicited photos, and the general brutality of contemporary courtship.

The performance showcases Jorgensen’s theatrical skill. She’s an engaging presence with natural comic timing, and her obvious affection for Austen’s work creates moments of authentic charm. The costume work effectively bridges Regency elegance with modern practicality, while her central insight – that modern dating’s most shocking behaviours have become so commonplace as to be clichéd – offers interesting social commentary about our collective desensitisation.

Yet the show’s treatment of Austen feels occasionally misguided. The novelist is presented as someone who “loved all women” and whose heroines “never let the world change them” –statements that would puzzle anyone familiar with Pride and Prejudice or Emma. Austen’s genius lay in presenting flawed, complex women who absolutely do change through their stories. Elizabeth Bennet must overcome her prejudices; Emma Woodhouse must confront her assumptions about others. Moreover, reducing Austen’s works to “ideal romances” ignores the razor sharp economic and social commentary and satire that make her novels stand the test of time.

The modern dating commentary, while understandable, treads overly familiar ground. More troublingly, the show occasionally veers into misanthropic territory, suggesting that modern people are fundamentally less caring than their historical counterparts. A groping incident that portrays bystanders as callously indifferent feels particularly tone-deaf, ignoring the reality of female solidarity in contemporary nightlife.

Where the show finds its strongest moment is in Jorgensen’s personal revelation about “liking yourself but not loving yourself” – a distinction that resonates beyond dating commentary into broader questions about self-worth.

The meta-fictional elements remain frustratingly underexplored. The fascinating reality that characters from Austen’s unfinished Sanditon or The Watsons are now more culturally significant than countless completed novels from the same period deserves serious examination. So does the way fan communities have spent two centuries essentially doing what Lilliana attempts – imagining alternative endings, breathing life into literary fragments.

At 60 minutes, the show feels both rushed and repetitive, cycling through predictable scenarios without building to meaningful insight. Jorgensen clearly possesses both the performance skills and emotional investment to make this concept work. With deeper exploration of the meta-fictional elements, a more nuanced use of Austen’s social criticism, and willingness to move beyond familiar observations about modern dating, Tales of a Jane Austen Spinster could evolve into something truly profound. As it stands, it’s an honest, well-performed piece that doesn’t quite fulfil its considerable promise.

You can read more about this show in our recent interview here.

Written, directed and performed by: Alexandra Jorgensen
Produced by: Wanderess Mermaid Productions

Tales of a Jane Austen Spinster has completed its run at Camden Fringe.