I am very grateful to the San Jose Stage Company for producing the world premiere of my adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel, Persuasion. Much gratitude is due to Artistic Director, Randall King, and to the production’s magnificent director, Kenneth Kelleher. Many thanks also to the very talented cast, crew and designers.

Karen D’Souza of the Mercury News said of the adaptation:

Slyly adapted by playwright Jennifer Le Blanc, “Persuasion” rings with Austen’s customary elegance and wit, the spirit of independent thinking that made her one of the greatest novelists of her day.

…One of the chief pleasures of the production is Le Blanc’s use of the text. Passages from the book are often spoken aloud, in the manner of the Word for Word company, so that the richness of Austen’s famously deadpan characterizations comes across.

Kelleher’s production enhances this with clever bits of staging, such as spinning parasols simulating turning wheels of a carriage or actors holding up a tablecloth to suggest a dining room table. The novel comes to life in our mind’s eye, which is as it should. Much is left to the imagination here, perfectly in keeping with style and tone of “Persuasion.”

Full review available:

http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_23003936/review-delightful-persuasion-at-san-jose-stage