Tales of a Jane Austen Spinster – Courtyard Theatre

What’s a girl to do? When you’ve been on the shelf — the literal bookshelf, that is — for more than 200 years, this question becomes ever more pressing. Should Liliana, a neglected heroine from an unfinished scrap of Jane Austen’s writing, remain a wallflower for all eternity, awaiting the extended hand of a mysterious gentleman to pluck her from her obscure perch and carry her away to freedom and fulfillment?

The play wouldn’t be very fun if she did. Fortunately for all involved, this is not the fate playwright and performer Alexandra Jorgensen has mapped out for her. Her Liliana, an earnest young woman with that blend of self-righteousness and self-consciousness that has come to characterize Austenian adaptation, is out to seize control of the narrative.

Jorgensen, operating here under Wanderess Mermaid Productions, has written a role that she is entirely suited for, and the sixty-minute performance thoroughly showcases her skills in monologue and physical comedy. The concept too is delightfully intriguing and an unusual example of a fringe production that bites off just precisely as much as it can chew, keeping audiences’ attention throughout its full, albeit brief, runtime.

With a lovely set of costumes and a stage full of fun surprises to play with, Liliana is delightfully droll, amusingly awkward, flirtatiously funny, and entirely eligible.

Reviewer: Kira Daniels

Reviewed: 8th August 2025

North West End UK Rating: