REVIEW: Northanger Abbey by Moving Parts Theatre at Keats House, 25 June - 16 July 2026
' more than poetry in motion - this is novel in motion' ★★★★★
Joyful and exuberant, this troupe lives up to their name again. There certainly are many moving parts to this production of the lesser known Austen novel, Northanger Abbey. From last year’s Vanity Fair extravaganza, Anna Blackburn is back and she keeps her paces as naive 17-year-old Catherine Morland. Her energy is irrepressible and her expressions priceless. Catherine’s passion for Gothic novels, in particular those of Ann Radcliffe, gets her in trouble with her love interest’s family. Dominic Bryant makes a charming young reverend, Henry Tilney, who catches Catherine’s eye (also playing her brother, James, in other scenes).
The cast multi-roles, clomps coconuts, and pulls out props at a frenetic pace. Sebastian Kainth performs the odious John Thorpe brilliantly, giving our heroine a pompous villain to recoil from. The endlessly talented Joanna Nevins, often sporting immense curls, is Catherine's two-faced best friend Isabella, Henry's sister Eleanor, and whatever else needs to be done, even making various instrumental sound effects. The music (Tamara Douglas-Morris), indeed, pushes the story forward gorgeously with Anais Tran N’goc’s violin entrancing all. Martin South gives a ferocious General Tilney, while dutifully yelling out chapter headings. Andy Canadine is wonderful as the generous Mrs. Allen of Fullerton and taking up various other roles. The ensemble works together incredibly well and works hard, sometimes creating visual moments of tableau vivant.
Simona Hughes directs this cast wonderfully on a set comprising two multi-coloured tent structures behind a tiered-box stage (Max Batty), around which the ensemble create carriages, makeshift dining tables, and use as stairs to the top of the spooky eponymous Abbey. Dark robes and black fans evoked the Gothic, while the women’s costumes resembled Austen Regency period, as a shorthand to which era we were observing.
The writing trio of Hughes, Nevin, and South know how to take a classic and compress it to capture its essence, while the cast brings the spirit and energy. In this piece they incorporated a group of modern-day students discussing the novel and the period of Austen’s works, especially the expectations of women of Regency England. This addition allows social commentary, as they note the contrast of the fear of spooky halls with the real concerns of Austen’s time of social class and women’s limited roles. There are, of course, moments that can’t be fully written in. As Catherine grabs an audience member’s electric fan, in awe, from a picnic blanket, regaling at the ‘modernities’ being shown on her utterly dull tour of Northanger Abbey, she creates her own laughs.
Despite the satire, Gothic themes, and class analysis, there is such a joy in this troupe’s production, even during a heatwave at an outdoor venue! This show is more than poetry in motion - this is novel in motion. And this troupe truly can move us.
NORTHANGER ABBEY presented by Moving Parts
Summer 2026 Dates & Venues – Moving Parts Theatre
Written and co-created by Simona Hughes, Joanna Nevin, Martin South
Performed by Anna Blackburn, Dominic Bryant, Andy Canadine, Sebastian Kainth, Joanna Nevin, Martin South, Anais Tran N’goc (also violinist)
Directed by Simona Hughes
Composer / Music Director: Tamara Douglas-Morris
Movement Director: Nevana Stojkov
Costume Design: Anna Pearshouse
Designer: Max Batty
Produced by Simona Hughes, Joanna Nevin, Martin South
