As we approach Jane Austen’s 250th birthday this year, award-winning improvised comedy show Austentatious moves to the Vaudeville Theatre, playing to their largest ever audiences on Mondays and sharing the stage with Six The Musical. Their run kicks off on Monday, 24 March 2025.
Founded in 2011, Austentatious began as a free show above a pub, finding their feet at the Edinburgh Fringe - where they played to sold out crowds and forged their cult following, with The Guardian naming the show as “one of the most enjoyable 60 minutes on the Fringe”.
Crowds and critics alike are captivated by the skill of Austentatious’s all-star cast, Cariad Lloyd (Changing Ends, Inside No.9, This Time with Alan Partridge, Peep Show, Qi), Rachel Parris (BBC’s The Mash Report, Live at the Apollo), Joseph Morpurgo (Radio 4, Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee), Graham Dickson (BBC’s The Witchfinder, Netflix’s After Life), Amy Cooke-Hodgson (Disney’s We Were the Lucky Ones, BBC’s Gangster Granny), Charlotte Gittins (BAFTA Rocliffe-winning writer), Lauren Shearing (Comedy Store Players), Daniel Nils Roberts (The History of the World in 1 Hour, Come Into My Kitchen podcast)
Speaking on their move to the Vaudeville Theatre, the cast says:
"We are absolutely thrilled to continue our West End journey at the most beautiful Vaudeville theatre! We have ardently admired the elegance of the Vaudeville, whilst perambulating along the Strand, that we must admit to feeling giddy with excitement to grace its boards with our particular Regency silliness!
'Have a banana!' As we have heard the locals say, and indeed we will!"
The show delights in the language & manners of the Regency period, playing on Austen's iconic wit and ingenious comedic tone of conversation between characters. Audiences are invited to shout out the title of a “lost” Austen novel at the beginning of each show and enjoy a fully improvised performance in period costume with live music accompaniment.
After tours around the UK, shows at The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, and Hampton Court Palace (where Queen Camilla picked the title of the show), Austentatious will be sharing the stage with Six The Musical at the Vaudeville Theatre.
Existing Austen fans and newcomers can expect a different performance every night, with previous performances named Everything Emma Wears All At Once, Dungeons and Darcy’s, North Banged Her Madly and A Tale of Two Bingleys. Audiences are kept on their toes with plot twists, innuendo and boisterous energy.
