The Questors Plans Al Fresco Austen in Walpole Park
Adaptation of Emma to be performed to mark author's 250 th birthday
The production provides a 'cheeky' twist on a timeless classic. Picture: Robert Vass
May 29, 2025
An adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma is to be performed by The Questors Theatre to mark the author’s 250 th birthday.
The production will see the stage moved across the road from the theatre into Walpole Park for the first time ever.
Audiences will be invited to picnic while watching the play which has been adapted by BAFTA-nominated comedian and actress Doon Mackichan, who is best known for her work on Smack the Pony and Good Omens, and Martin Millar. Their staging provides a twist on the timeless tale and sees Jane Austen herself in the spotlight as she acts out her new novel with her lively young nieces.
Fine weather is hoped for during the performances which run from Friday 20 to Saturday 28 June.
Emma follows Emma Woodhouse: handsome, clever, rich, and a hopeless romantic – for everyone but herself. As Emma attempts to play matchmaker among her friends, chaos ensues.
The Questors Artistic Director, Alex Marker said, "2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth and we’ll be celebrating with a dazzling adaptation of Emma in our first ever outdoor production in Ealing! Though we have previously performed outdoors at the Minnack Theatre in Cornwall, this will be our first local al fresco adventure. We couldn’t be more excited to be performing in Walpole Park, against the suitably genteel backdrop of Pitzhanger Manor, for this fresh and witty take on one of Austen’s most loved novels.
“This adaptation has a refreshingly cheeky approach to Austen’s work; unlike other stagings that may be buttoned up and over-starched, this one focuses on the fun of the story. Anyone who thinks Jane Austen is stuffy and serious, this show will make them think again!”
All performances begin at 7:30pm except matinees at 12:30pm on Saturday 21 June and 2:30pm on Sunday 22 June and Saturday 28 June. There is no evening performance on Sunday and no performance at all on Monday 23 June and Wednesday 25 June.
Ticket prices range from £10 to £20 and can be purchased here.
Prior to this The Questors Theatre will be staging Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood in The Studio from the 6-14 June. This is the third time that this play has staged at the venue with previous productions in 1960 and 1980.
Originally written for radio, this ‘play for voices’ depicts a night and a day in the fictional Welsh fishing village of Llareggub. A cast of colourful characters fill the village with equal parts humour and pathos. From the eccentric Lord Cut-Glass with his collection of clocks, to Dai Bread the bigamous baker, to star-crossed lovers Sinbad Sailors and Gossamer Beynon, the dreams of the townspeople of Llareggub (read it backwards) are brought to life through Thomas’ poetic prose and verse.
Alex Marker says, "Written in 1953, the last year of Dylan Thomas’ short life, Under Milk Wood was specially commissioned by the BBC, and its soaring, lyrical verse has stood the test of time, having been brought to life by iconic performers including Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter
O’Toole, Anthony Hopkins, and Tom Jones over the years. We look forward to seeing this wonderfully talented cast and crew perform Thomas’ masterpiece.”
Director Simon Roberts added, “I'm excited to explore Dylan Thomas's weird and wonderful landscape with its many vivid colours and contrasts - like entering a dreamworld from which a part of you hopes never to wake from. I'm also excited to discover how our audiences will respond to the play.
“Will they be drawn to its poetry, laugh at its often bawdy humour, be moved by its moments of poignancy, charmed/alarmed by its eccentric characters? Hopefully, all of the above!”
Tickets priced from £10-£24 for Under Milk Wood are available on The Questors Theatre website and from the Box office at 0208 567 5184 and boxoffice@questors.org.uk.
All performances are at 7:30pm other than a matinee on Sunday 8 June at 2:30pm. There is no show on Monday 9 June and the captioned performance is on Thursday 12 June.
Later in the summer, The Questors Theatre follows its recent run of Relatively Speaking, with another Alan Ayckbourn comedy Table Manners, one third of his famed trilogy, The Norman Conquests.
Performed by The Questors Theatre’s Advanced Performance Course students, the play follows Annie, a ‘spinster’ who has arranged to spend an illicit weekend with her sister’s husband Norman, a librarian and unlikely lothario. But when their plans are rumbled, the would-be lovers find themselves trapped with their spouses and siblings for an awkward weekend.
Norman makes for an unlikely lothario in Table Manners
Director Richard Gallagher says, “This is the first time I have directed an Ayckbourn, though I have, for years, been a frequent visitor to Scarborough, where I have had the privilege of enjoying quite a few first productions of his plays. I fully endorse Peter Hall's observation that he is, indeed, 'the English Chekhov' – although he's much funnier!”
Alex Marker adds, “Part comedy of confusion, part domestic drama, love triangles and bickering siblings combine to create the weekend from hell. Table Manners is a prime example of Ayckbourn’s ability to balance humour and pathos. The audience at turns sympathises with and ridicules each character as their foibles are laid bare for all to see. Everyone has witnessed a family argument over the dinner table – in Table Manners that argument has a whole audience!”
The original production opened in 1973 at The Library Theatre in Scarborough and had its London debut at Greenwich Theatre in 1974, until it transferred to the Globe Theatre later that year. It was performed, along with Living Together and Round and Round the Garden, as a trilogy, titled The Norman Conquests. The original London cast included Tom Courtenay, Penelope Keith, and Felicity Kendall. The play continues to enjoy revivals and was last performed at The Questors in 1986.
Tickets ranging from £14-16 https://www.questors.org.uk/table_manners are available on The Questors Theatre website and from the Box office at 0208 567 5184 and boxoffice@questors.org.uk.
It runs from 12-19 July with all performances in The Playhouse at 7:45pm except for Sunday 13 July when it takes place at 2:30pm and Monday 14 July when there is no performance. The captioned performance Thursday 17 July.
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