Austentatious

Vaudeville Theatre

4.9/5 based on 28 reviews (read reviews)

Booking until: Monday, 14 December 2026
Running time: 1hr 50min. Incl. 1 interval.

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Austentatious photos

Austentatious description

A brand-new Jane Austen novel, invented on the spot from a title shouted out by the audience.

Every performance starts with the company collecting title suggestions from the room and picking one at random. Six performers in Regency costume then improvise an entire Austen novel around it, with live musical accompaniment and no rehearsal, script or safety net. Past titles have included Bath to the Future and Mansfield Shark. Nothing is repeated from night to night, so the show is different at every sitting.

Austentatious began in 2011 and has grown from an Edinburgh Fringe run into a weekly West End fixture, first transferring in 2017 and holding a residency at the Vaudeville Theatre since 2025. The company won the Chortle Award for Best Character, Improv or Sketch Act in 2014 and has recorded two shows for BBC Radio 4. The Guardian called it "one of the most enjoyable 60 minutes on the fringe".

There is no writer or director in the usual sense: the show is devised and performed by the company itself, founded by members of The Oxford Imps. The founding line-up is Amy Cooke-Hodgson, Graham Dickson, Cariad Lloyd, Joseph Morpurgo, Andrew Hunter Murray and Rachel Parris.

The cast revolves, with six of the nine company members appearing at each performance. Rachel Parris is known for The Mash Report and Live at the Apollo; Cariad Lloyd for QI, Inside No. 9 and the podcast Griefcast; Joseph Morpurgo is an Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee; and Graham Dickson has appeared in The Witchfinder and After Life. They are joined by Charlotte Gittins, Daniel Nils Roberts and Lauren Shearing.