Our December event will be held in collaboration with the other JASNA regions in California and is free and open to anyone interested in Jane Austen. “A Toast to Jane Austen” will be held via Zoom on Saturday, December 12 from 2-4 p.m. Pacific time.
From the Page to the Stage
We will open with a panel discussion “Theatrically Yours, Jane Austen,” featuring theater professionals from across the country who have firsthand understanding of taking Austen from the page to the stage.
The panel will be moderated by JASNA Central California Regional Coordinator Heather Parish, executive director of the Rogue Performance Festival in Fresno, Calif.
Featured panelists will be:
Brooke Aiello—a professional actor, costume designer and professor of theater at California State University Fresno and Fresno Pacific University, where she specializes in period acting styles. She has directed Michael Bloom’s adaptation of Emma and costumed Lauren Gunderson & Margot Melton’s Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley.
Hana Sharif—artistic director for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. She directed Kate Hamill’s Sense and Sensibility for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in addition to other acclaimed productions of Pride and Prejudice, The Christians and Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
Nandita Sheno—an actor-writer who lives in New York City. Her full length play Lyme Park: An Austonian Romance of an Indian Nature was produced by the Hegira at the Round House Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Amy Stallings—a professor of history at the College of William and Mary. She is also an actor and historical interpreter with Colonial Williamsburg. Her adaptation of Northanger Abbey was produced by the Williamsburg Players in 2019.
Original Theatrical Presentation
The panel will be followed by an original theatrical presentation by Carissa Meagher, a playwright, actor, director and theatre instructor. She holds a BFA in Acting from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and an MFA in Playwriting from Ireland’s RADA affiliate school. Her one-act play Written Off was produced at The Lir Academy and her thesis play, California, was featured in Dublin’s Fringe Festival. In 2019, Sacramento Theatre Company opened its 75th Anniversary Season with her play Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.
Social Time with the Janeites
Following the panel and theatrical presentation, join us for some camaraderie and good spirits as we play together: Austen Adaptations Trivia, an Austen-themed scavenger hunt, and a Zoom costume contest. So gather your Austen goodies and your best cap for visiting and join us for some afternoon fun!