Jane Austen's Persuasion, adapted by Jennifer Le Blanc. One of Jennifer's first fully produced stage adaptations which won awards in 2013. Info: http://jenniferleblanc.com/persuasion
First Produced by San Jose Stage Company in April 2013. The rights for this script are available for negotiation.
Further information can be found at http://jenniferleblanc.com/persuasion & like it over at https://facebook.com/PersuasionStagePlay and follow at http://twitter.com/PersuasionPlay !
2. Jane Austen’s
PERSUASION
Adaptation by JENNIFER LE BLANC
Originally produced by – San Jose Stage Company
Randall King,Artistic Director
Cathleen King, Executive Director
World Premiere opened at –The Stage
San Jose, California
April 3, 2013
Directed by Kenneth Kelleher
Produced by AcaciaTheatre Company
Mequon,WI
Janet Peterson, Artistic Director
Open:
July 9-22nd, 2014
Directed byTim Rebers
3. Press & Awards
“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.”
– Karen D’Souza, San Jose Mercury News
“The play is very faithful to the novel, […]
Austen’s characters seem so perfectly suited to
the stage, it’s a wonder we don’t see as many
theatrical productions of her work as we do film
and television versions.”
– Sean Conwell, San Jose.com
“It also includes Le Blanc's adaptation, which splices
Austen's superbly controlled, free-indirect speech
with characters' own voices, deftly passing the narrative baton among
them in a way that advances the story without feeling stilted.”
– Mike Fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
2013 SiliconValley SmallTheatre Awards – Artsalot
Standout New Works: Persuasion San Jose Stage Company
Photos by Dave Lepori
The script fluidly combines direct address
and dialogue to keep the audience
abreast of the characters’ locations and
intricate social and familial ties.
– Selena Milewski, Milwaukee Express
5. Playwright & Actor
http://jenniferleblanc.com/persuasion /PersuasionStagePlay
“[…] locals may recall the excellent 2011
production of Sense and Sensibility by
TheatreWorks as one such triumph. With San
Jose Stage’s Persuasion, a version written by
local actress Jennifer Le Blanc, who appeared as
Elinor Dashwood in the aforementioned Sense
and Sensibility, there’s a definite sense that the
torch has been passed.”
– Sean Conwell, San Jose.com
Photo by Gregg Le Blanc
6. Recent Coverage…
American Theatre Magazine, Oct 2013 – Chad Jones
“Jenn is just so lovely and so nice,” Gunderson adds, “but she comes to
rehearsal, and she’s ready and aware and vigilant.” […]
Gunderson recalls that audition […] “… She leads with undeniable talent.You
could tell she was thinking faster than anyone in the room. She didn’t tell me
until two weeks into rehearsals that she was, for a while, a biochemistry
major. …”
Now thatGunderson and Le Blanc have formed a solid writer-actor bond,
Gunderson has said, only half-joking, that she wants Le Blanc “in everything
of mine, if I can help it.” […]
The reunion will occur on the occasion of Silent Sky, slated for Palo Alto–
basedTheatreWorks in January. Le Blanc will play the older sister of
astronomer Henrietta Leavitt in Gunderson’s dramatic blend of science,
history and romance. […]
San Jose Mercury News, June 2013 – Lou Francher
“One of the reasons I love acting is that it's an opportunity to practice compassion.
You spend your life playing another character.You have to find humanity, even in an
evil villain,” she says.
[…]
"It was a wonderful opportunity, figuring out distinct characters who are also the
same people -- that's rare," she says.
Also rare is her work with the Arabian Shakespeare Festival. Officially founded in
January 2013, but dating back to 2010, the Santa Clara company is involved in a pilot
program with the UnitedArab Emirates University in Al Ain.
"In 2012, I went with two other actors to workshop Shakespeare withArabic women,"
LeBlanc explains. "It was life changing."
http://bit.ly/sjmnJenn
[full article]… before she heads into
rehearsals for Silent Sky,
she’ll be working with the
San Francisco–based
Arabian Shakespeare
Festival on A Message by
Kuwaiti playwright Hussain
Al Musalam.
http://bit.ly/tcgLGJL [full article]
Photo by Gregg Le Blanc