AustenBlog . . . she’s everywhere » 2004 » August

7 August 2004

Jane Austen’s second publisher sold

Filed under: Jane in the News — Mags @ 11:27 pm

The John Murray publishing imprint has been sold to Hachette Livre as part of their acquisition of Hodder Headline. John Murray was the first publisher of Emma, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey.

John Murray was founded in 1768 and its authors included Lord Byron, Jane Austen (Emma), Charles Darwin (The Origin of Species), Arthur Conan Doyle, John Betjeman, Kenneth Clark, Patrick Leigh Fermor and David Gilmour. It was only in 2002 that the firm, still chaired by a member of the Murray family, decided to sell out to Hodder Headline.

Comments Off

Not your mother’s Pride and Prejudice

Filed under: Stage — Mags @ 11:23 pm

This sounds like fun. “No Place Like Home,” a new play being produced by Trustus Theater in Columbia, South Carolina, includes scenes from Pride and Prejudice.

A very misguided nurse creates a family of her own in this hilarious and twisted new comedy by Peter Morris. With references to The Glass Menagerie, Pride and Prejudice, Broadway musical comedies and other pop culture icons, No Place Like Home propels its four characters – and a sock puppet – through a series of dark, comedic scenes.

A review of the play in The State of South Carolina is quite positive.

Darion McCloud plays the new arrival and has to go through a series of transformations — from angry captive, to sexy-sweet talker, to Mr. Darcy from “Pride and Prejudice,” to Luke Skywalker, and just plain old Roy. His performance just gets better as the play continues.
[. . .]
As Sarah and her alter ego Elizabeth (from “Pride and Prejudice”), Monica Wyche does what she always does: she turns in a seemingly effortless performance, disappearing into the person in the script. You can’t get any better than that.

Comments Off