GIVEN the blistering heat of the last few days I was glad to find that the open air performance of Sense and Sensibility was in the shade and that the cast weren’t wearing the heaviest of Georgian costumes – I’m sure there’s nothing worse than having to stop a performance because an actor has collapsed from heat stroke.

Chapterhouse Theatre Company is currently touring the country with their adaption of Jane Austen’s first offering. The eight-strong team do a brilliant job of creating a convincing world despite having to take up multiple roles each and working with minimal sets and props. 

Flora Sowerby and Hannah Miller play sisters Elinor and Marianne who, having lost their father and subsequently their family home, are thrown into the turmoil of some drastic life changes – meeting some eligible and not so eligible suitors along the way. The pair have a convincing chemistry and the characters’ warm and honest nature ensures the audience is behind them every step of the way.

Stand out performances come from Rob Peacock and Rosannah Lenaghan, with the latter bringing a wonderfully villainous antidote to the often sickly sweet idyll of an Austen show.

All-in-all a wonderful way to spend a warm summer evening.

Millie Reeves