‘Courtship’
Scenes from the novels of Jane Austen
Courtship is Kim Hicks’s longest running One Woman show – launched in 1981.
In the years since Kim Hicks first created this show, with the support of her friend and pianist Tabitha Synge Perrin, Jane Austen’s novels have been turned into an array of film and TV spectaculars and her popularity with an ever increasing audience has grown year on year. What is lost though, in these adaptations, is the delightfully rich voice of Austen herself as narrator – not so with Courtship. All the extracts in the show are unabridged, each picked to reflect an aspect of this ongoing theme in Austen’s novels and often chosen to highlight her excellence as a remarkably fine writer of comedy.
Courtship was the first One Woman Jane Austen show and has outlasted those that followed for good reason – Kim’s sheer delight in the exquisite perfection of Austen’s works is infectious and will captivate you from start to finish. Not one drop of humour is missed and each word or phrase, so painstakingly crafted by Miss Austen, is given the clarity and expression it deserves. Those new to Austen’s work will be as enchanted as long established fans.
Performance Information
Venues:
As well as appearing on mainstream Theatre programmes Courtship has been performed in schools, at literary festivals, in Village halls, at charity fundraising events, on cruises and at many private functions. Requiring only a small table and an upright chair, the simplicity of its presentation makes it the most adaptable of Kim’s shows, fitting comfortably in any space from a small living room or private garden to a function room, church hall, arts centre or full size theatre. Kim can bring basic theatre lighting with her if required.
Length of performance:
Courtship can be tailored to many different lengths.
The full show lasts an hour and can be performed with or without an interval.
A longer show can be created with the addition of a musician.
Shorter performances are easily created by simply leaving out one or more of the chosen extracts.
The ‘table-magic’ format also works extremely well, with audience members able to select from a menu of pieces and have a private ‘recitation’ at their table.
“Kim Hicks triumphantly impersonates Jane Austen in her delightful and shrewdly chosen readings . . . but to call them readings does no justice to Miss Hicks’s sparkling artistry, for she makes Austen’s characters leap off the page.” Mario Relich
“ Beautifully attired in period costume, Kim Hicks triumphs splendidly, carrying the audiences along with her zestful recreation of the characters and their world.” Brian Cooper
“Kim Hicks . . . has the vivacity and charm of Austen’s more captivating characters . . . genteel yet sparkling entertainment.” Debbie Womack
“With her manner the very personification of intelligent wit, she brought the scenes vividly to life . . . it’s a shrewdly economical performance, exploiting every telling gesture and as carefully effective with silence as with speech.” Shirley Brown
“Kim Hicks has achieved another one woman cracker . . . versatile master of caricature and unrelenting stamina , one was left with a more lively appreciation of Austen and a breathtaking admiration for the actress who never drew a breath all night.” Jo Shinner
“Hicks’s dramatic presentation. . . highlights Austen’s skill in creating character through dialogue, while her qualities as a satirist are fully revealed in her splendid rendering of Henry Tilney’s spooky description of his family seat in Northanger Abbey.” Ann FitzGerald
“Kim Hicks intensifies this subtle irony . . . to render a charmingly biting portrait of the characters.” Fuh
‘Table-Magic’ at the
Jane Austen Garden Party.
Victoria, Canada
June 2013