Amusement and adventures with Austentatious: Q&A with Rachel Parris
Published: Wednesday 6th November 2024
Austentatious, the comedy show in which a Jane Austen novel is improvised live on stage, is now on a tour of the UK (as well as continuing its run at the Arts Theatre in the West End). We spoke to Rachel Parris, who is one of the founding members of Austentatious, about how she first got into the world of comedy, the inspiration behind the creation of the format and one of the group's most memorable scenes.
How did you first get started in the world of comedy?
Improv was my way into comedy - I joined a weekly show doing short-form games in my early twenties. I always loved playing as part of a team, but that gave me the confidence to try to do funny stuff on my own.
What inspired the creation of Austentatious?
Around 2011, a few fellow improvisers and I decided we wanted to start doing long-form (i.e a longer show, where you tell one long story instead of doing games) and we loved literature-inspired improv. We considered Bronte or Dickens or even Chekhov, but Jane Austen suits improv really well, and we settled on that.
How do you rehearse for an improvised show like Austentatious?
Same way you'd practise for a football match (I mean, we don't play football!). People often ask, "If you don't know what's going to happen, how do you rehearse?" But it's the same as you would in sport - you don't know what's going to happen but you practise your skills so you are on your game on the night. We rehearse basic improv skills, we have had Austen research nights, story-telling workshops, and practised particular improv skills like finding emotions in the show and trying to build a space clearly. We just practise how to improvise.
What is it like performing improvised versus scripted comedy?
For me, it's just much more fun! It's brand new and unknown - you not only don't know what you're going to do, but you don't know what anyone is going to do! It's an adventure in a way that scripted performing can't really be.
In Austentatious and other forms of improv, how do you decide when to stop scenes?
Different groups do it differently. We allow our fellow improvisers on the sides to "sweep" a scene when it feels right - they literally walk across the stage to indicate the end of the scene, and our lighting improviser dims the lights when he sees that. Or sometimes, he [the lighting improviser] will decide and dim the lights to end the scene.
There's all sorts of ways to end scenes - some do it very discreetly, some simply walk off or some shout "end scene" and slam the stage!
Do you have any favourite memories from previous Austentatious shows?
Yes! I remember one of the boys knocking on the imaginary door in a scene of a hen do, and we "answered" and we were all a bit thrown - he was playing a magistrate or something. We wondered where this was going, but then he slowly started to mime taking his clothes off and we realised he had come in to play the stripper. A highlight!
What do you think it is about long-form improv that is appealing to audiences?
I think an audience can feel the energy that comes off the stage when all the performers are making it up as they go. The performers and the audience are in the same boat - none of us know what's going to happen so there's a real excitement, a fizz, to an improv audience.
How would you describe Austentatious in one word?
Unexpected.
Austentatious is running in the West End at the Arts Theatre until 16th December 2024.
The Austentatious tour runs until 7th June 2025.
For more details and tickets visit austentatiousimpro.com
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