The Aurora Theatre Company has announced its fall season, which includes the West Coast premiere of “Emma”. This particular production sports a cast of only five, which makes us here at AustenBlog Research Facilities, Ltd. wonder which five they’ve picked - Box Hill wouldn’t be the same without all our favorites!

Radio Sargam Online reports that the British show GMTV raved over the film after showing some clips on air, claiming BRIDE AND PREJUDICE is “destined to become a smash. The site also provides their own review of the film, which isn’t so positive.

AustenBlog Central certainly welcomes any more reviews to this increasingly mixed bag!

KeiraWatch, a LiveJournal community that is to Keira Knightley as AustenBlog is to Jane, directed us to some juicy and just plain weird P&P3 filming news.

In the first item, Contactmusic.com reports that Keira Knightley has some bruises from Donald Sutherland’s enthusiastic on-set greetings.

Also, the IMDB message forums have a report from an individual who worked at the hotel where the cast stayed during Groombridge filming.

We also turned up an article on the BBC site that says Wilton House in Wiltshire was used for Pemberley interiors. Filming there was last week. The article says the house was used for filming SENSE AND SENSIBILITY; from the photos, we are thinking it was Norland. Isn’t that the room where Marianne asked Fanny if she had counted all the silver?

Susanna Clarke, whose novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell has been compared to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, was inspired by Jane Austen:

Originally the novel was set in the late 18th century, but Clarke found herself gravitating toward the early 19th century — toward Jane Austen’s world.

“Once the novel was set there,” she says, “I could draw on her observations about social behaviour and use that as a basis, which was great.”

There is definitely a sense of Austen in the book, a satirical rapier hidden behind the cushions, and a host of well-drawn secondary characters, particularly the pompous ones. (”Reddish-brown is such a fickle colour,” one aesthete notes about Strange’s hair. “It has no wear in it.”)

The Telegraph reports that Higham Park, a mostly-Georgian house where Jane Austen once visited (along with Mozart and Ian Fleming), has been restored by two local women, who did much of the work themselves.

This Is Bath reports that BRIDE AND PREJUDICE, the Bollywood musical adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, will be shown at the Jane Austen Festival at Bath in late September, a few weeks before its official premiere. The article reports that 40 tickets will be given to anyone attending in Regency costume; call the Jane Austen Centre for details.

The BBC has some more information on this new production (which includes a picture of John Leslie, who will play Wickham) as does The Scotsman. (Rula Lenska is playing Mrs. Bennet! And presumably Sylvester McCoy is Mr. Bennet.) The crack research staff at AustenBlog Research and Testing Labs, Ltd. dug up some links to the individual venues:

• Edinburgh Playhouse
• The Theatre Royal, Windsor
• The Palace Theatre, Westcliff (no listing for P&P yet; we suggest that you call the box office for information)
• Greenwich Theatre, London

If any AustenBlog readers see this play, send in a report! We’d love to hear all about it, and share it with our readers.