Latest news with #Sense&Sensibility
Daily Mirror
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Jane Austen's personal letters exposed in jaw-dropping BBC series on TV tonight
Jane Austen wrote thousands of letters but her sister burned most of them - this series uncovers those that were left Even if you're only a fan of Pride & Prejudice because of THAT Darcy lake scene, or Sense & Sensibility from the movie with Emma Thompson, you will have been enjoying Jane Austen's legacy for years. Revealing the inner lives of men and women, ripping up the rulebook to comment on society, class and politics, Jane Austen was outrageous and witty. Tonight's BBC2 series Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius, at 9pm, explores the life and legacy - more than two centuries on, her work leaves a lasting legacy that is read, enjoyed, adapted and cherished to this day. Along with her published work, she also wrote thousands of personal letters to her beloved sister Cassandra, sharing her deepest thoughts, but after her death at the age of 41 in 1817, her sister burned them. Cassandra must have known the outrage they would cause, but fortunately a handful survived. Drawing on these letters, alongside the insights of experts, novelists and actors, this series aims to piece her extraordinary life back together. Each episode weaves in cinematic re-enactments, with contributions from authors and writers including Helen Fielding, Candice Carty-Williams, Kate Atkinson, Colm Tóibín and Bee Rowlatt; actors Charity Wakefield, Greta Scacchi, Samuel West, Tamsin Greig, Tom Bennett and Greg Wise, experts and historians Dr Paula Byrne, Admiral Lord West, Dr Priya Atwal, Dr Louise Curran and Dr Paddy Bullard, and filmmaker Ken Loach. Author Helen Fielding says: 'Jane Austen's voice is so strong and funny and perceptive. And her work's still being copied and stolen by people like me.' Watch out for more special programming later this year to mark Austen's 250th birthday, and straight after this at 10pm, a screening of Pride & Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. *Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius is airing tonight (May 26) on BBC2 at 9pm There's plenty more on TV tonight - here's the best of the rest.. SPRINGWATCH, BBC2, 8pm It has been 20 years since Springwatch first aired, and it continues to broadcast incredible wildlife stories, thanks to two decades of unprecedented access to nests, setts, holts and waterways. Chris Packham and Michael Strachan lead three weeks of wildlife wonder from the National Trust's Longshaw Estate, in the heart of the Peak District. Alongside live action from the many hidden cameras, there will also be films to salute the passionate people who go the extra mile. Father and daughter duo David and Heather go freediving on the Cornish coast to observe changes in the seagrass beds and rocky reefs. We find out what happens with amorous molluscs are in need of a mate. Turns out those snails can be quite selfish. Cameraman Louis Labrom heads to Dartmoor to film the iconic swallow, while former farmer Philip Hambly and his wife Faith have transformed their 52 acres into a haven for birds, butterflies and plants. JAMIE COOKS: GEORGIA, CHANNEL 4, 7pm In this sumptuous one-off special, Jamie Oliver heads to eastern Europe to dive into the fascinating cuisine of Georgia, soaking up inspiration from its people, ingredients, techniques and traditions. From exploring the capital city of Tbilisi to the wine region, Jamie immerses himself with the locals and the culture, joins a traditional Georgian gathering and brings what he's learnt to his cooking back home to Essex. Jamie kicks off his trip in Tbilisi, on the ancient Silk Road. At the city's largest food market, the Dezerter Bazaar, local chef Meriko inspires Jamie with the innovative use of herbs. He falls in love with Khinkali - Georgian dumplings, and is allowed into a restaurant kitchen for his own special lesson where he learns traditional techniques. Heading east to the wine region and the vineyards of Kakheti, he arrives at the perfect time to 'birth the new wine', and he's invited to his very first Supra - a traditional communal feast. EMMERDALE, ITV1, 7.30pm John is tormented by nightmares of being arrested for Nate's murder as he and Victoria prepare for his wedding to Aaron. Moira anxiously watches as workers dredge the lake. When Cain reveals the dredging has begun, John panics and starts packing. Aaron catches him mid-escape but is reassured it's just pre-wedding jitters. Joe and Dawn's romance is derailed when a social worker arrives to follow up on a safeguarding concern. Ross takes Lewis out kayaking and sneakily pinches his house keys. EASTENDERS, BBC1, 7.30pm Zack puts his new plan into action and goes to Ravi for a loan to fund his escape. Ravi warns him not to mess with Nicola and reveals that she recently asked him to help move a body. Phil is confused when Nigel is angry that they didn't celebrate his birthday, despite saying he didn't want a fuss. Avani is upset when she receives an onslaught of cruel messages online as news gets out about her sleeping with Joel. CORONATION STREET, ITV1, 8pm Brody tenses as he listens to a message from his Dad. Kit returns home to find Brody smashing up his flat, revealing his Dad assures him he's innocent and it's a police stitch-up. When Ronnie introduces Debbie to Fiona, an old flame, Debbie's put out. Eileen tells George and Brian that the drugs found in Julie's system were the painkillers prescribed for her, not Julie. When Brian makes an innocuous remark, Eileen snaps and bans him from attending the funeral.
Ottawa Citizen
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Ottawa Citizen
St. Joseph presents an inspiring, entertaining production of Sense & Sensibility
Article content Zoe Whitlock, Lead Critic Colonel By Secondary School Article content There's no better friend than a sister and St. Joseph High School's performance of Sense & Sensibility told a heartwarming tale of gossip, scandal, romance, and most importantly, sisterly love. Article content Sense & Sensibility, based on the novel written by Jane Austen in 1811 and adapted for the stage by Kate Hamill, is a play that follows Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, two sisters who move to a cottage in the English countryside with their newly widowed mother. Elinor Dashwood, practical and reserved, falls for Edward Ferrars, an awkwardly charming gentleman who is engaged to someone else. Marianne Dashwood, romantic and free, falls headfirst for John Willoughby, an irresistible man with a mysterious past. Through heartbreak and happiness, scandal and sickness, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood navigate the societal pressures of Regency era England and are tested in ways they would have never imagined. Sense & Sensibility tells the story of the bond between two sisters brought closer together by love, life, and loss. Article content Article content In the spotlight was the dynamic duo Anna Mansfield and Talia Daigle, playing Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Together they worked in harmony, beautifully portraying the strong relationship between the two sisters, while expertly bringing out their differences. Anna Mansfield as Elinor moved across the stage in a deliberate and cautious manner that matched the reserved nature of the character. When Elinor reveals to Marianne that she knew of Edward's engagement, Mansfield effectively portrayed emotional turmoil that had been building up after months of staying silent. Talia Daigle brought whimsy and life to the role of Marianne. Daigle was a ray of sunlight on the stage, from playing the character with an infectious energy that showed Marianne's unbreakable spirit to demonstrating impressive range by sobbing in panicked hysterics. Article content Article content Article content In the role of Edward Ferrars, Finley Henderson moved in an awkward yet endearing manner and spoke in stilted speech that showed how nervous the character was around Elinor. As Robert Ferrars, Henderson snorted and sniffled across the stage, repulsing everyone along the way. Sammy O'Connor played John Willoughby with exorbitant bravado, demonstrating the arrogance of the character through comedic body language such as exaggerated hand gestures, dramatically flipped coattails, and smoldering looks. The Gossips represented the ever increasing pressure of society with high pitched, overlapping voices, and birdlike laughter. Article content Four ornate windows looked out onto a beautifully painted backdrop of the rolling hills and cloudy skies of the English countryside. The windows were painted pink and white on the inside and draped with green vines on the outside, smoothly depicting the change in settings. Sense & Sensibility employed a wide variety of lighting techniques, including striking red lighting during scenes of romance, fading blue lights when Marianne is ill, and the flash of lightning across the thunder filled sky. Social status of the characters was reflected through colourful costumes, hair and makeup.
Daily Mirror
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
I visited pitiful never-before-seen room where Jane Austen took her last breath
The normally private residence where the Pride & Prejudice author lived for her final three months before she died has been opened to the public for the first time as part Winchester's 250th celebrations of their most famous resident, t The modest lodging room where one the world's greatest novelists, Jane Austen, breathed her last breath has been opened to the public for the first time in Winchester, Hampshire. Normally crowds of Jane Austen fans from all over the world gather outside the cream-coloured walls of this hallowed Georgian building at No 8 College Street to pay homage to their favourite author, whose six witty novels such as Sense & Sensibility captured a slice of 18th century English life and spawned a global romantic industry in Hollywood films, BBC period dramas and spin-off TV series. Normally the closest fans have been able to get over the years has been to take photos of the memorial plaque to Jane that hangs above the door at No 8, but have never been allowed to step foot inside. Now the hand-written note stuck to the wall outside reminding tourists that it is a private residence has been torn down, and the simple lodgings rooms where Jane spent three months before her untimely death, aged 41, has been opened for just 28 days to the public to mark the 250th anniversary of the author's birth. On 18 July 1817, Jane had a seizure after a long unknown illness and died with her head in her beloved sister Cassandra's lap upstairs in the lodging house, just five minutes walk from the Winchester Cathedral where she is buried. Born the seventh child of eight in 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, where her father was rector, Jane famously never wed after her first love Irish lawyer Tom Lefroy (played by James McAvoy in the 2007 film Becoming Jane with Anne Hathaway) departed for Dublin and wed a wealthy woman. The author, who just before her death had begun to enjoy a minor celebrity despite publishing her books anonymously, only earned around £650 in her lifetime (the equivalent of £40,000 today) from her work, and was used to living relatively modestly compared to her wealthy brothers. Jane and her sister and mother lived in Chawton Cottage, 10 miles from Winchester, which was one of many properties owned by her rich brother Edward, who had an annual income of £15,000 – even grander than Mr Darcy's £10,000 a year in Jane's most famous work, Pride & Prejudice. Guiding the first tour of its kind in the house, Adam Rattray, head of history of art at Winchester College, which owns the property, explains how historians and architects have been able to peel back the layers of history in the house to recreate what it would have looked like in Jane's time. 'Jane had been unwell for many months and when she arrived in Winchester on May 24, she was suffering from an unknown disease – possibly Addison's or Lupus. She had a blotchy face and she had not left her house in a long time and came to the city for medical treatment from Giles King Lyford, surgeon-general at county hospital. 'In her last letters to her nephew, Jane wrote about her 'comfortable lodgings, including the neat little drawing room with a bow window overlooking Dr Gabell's garden,' who was the master of the college. And how she mainly spent her days on a sofa, which we have replicated with a piece of furniture from the period covered with ticking. 'The house virtually remained untouched for years so much of the cornicing is original, and we have matched the same coloured green paint we found on the walls downstairs, and the grey, terracotta and cream of Jane's lodgings.' Sadly Jane never recovered and a day before she died, when asked by her sister what she needed, she replied, 'Only death itself.' Her last tragic words were, 'God grant me patience, Pray for me, Oh pray for me.' Jane was buried with just four male members of her family in attendance, as women did not attend funerals at the time. And her heartbroken sister Cassandra could only watch from the window upstairs in the lodging house as the funeral cortege carrying Jane passed on the way to her final resting place. Cassandra, who was played by Keeley Hawes in the recent BBC period drama Miss Austen, wrote later, 'I watched the little mournful procession the length of the street and when it turned from my sight… I had lost her forever,' before leaving the house never to return. The opening of the house where Jane died is part of a summer-long celebration of the Hampshire city's most famous resident, including a display in the City Museum of Jane's belongings such as her beautiful silk pelisse – or coat – which shows Jane stood about 5ft 7-tall and was a size six in modern UK sizing. Louise West, former curator of Jane's house, explains how when Jane began earning her own money, she loved to spend it. 'We have many everyday objects here that belonged to Jane such as purses which normally would have been thrown out, but by the end of her life, Jane's sister and mother were being asked for Jane's autographs, so she was beginning to become famous. 'Even though Jane made many of her clothes, she paid for the silk pelisse to be made for her at great expense, and if you look closely, you'll see it's covered in tiny oak leaves – a Naval symbol – in tribute to her two seafaring brothers. 'Jane's house at Chawton would have been very cold, and she would have worn the pelisse a bit like a housecoat to keep herself warm.' Visitors to the city can also experience the Jane Austen exhibition at Winchester Cathedral where she was buried, and where letters and poems between Jane and her good friend Anne Lefroy are on display. Jane met Anne Lefroy's nephew Tom as a lively 20-year-old when she attended many balls at the Assembly Rooms in Basingstoke. In early January 1796, Jane wrote excitedly to her older sister Cassandra about her crush, calling him "a very gentlemanlike, good-looking, pleasant young man'. But alas, Jane was unlikely to offer bring much in the way of a dowry, and in another of her letters later that year, she mentioned his departure and wrote, 'At length the day is come when I am to flirt my last with Tom Lefroy, and when you receive this it will be over. My tears flow as I write at the melancholy idea.' Indeed Tom left the country and married a wealthy woman Mary Paul in 1799, and they had seven children and lived in the family estate at Carrigglass Manor in County Longford in Ireland. Tom and Jane never saw each other again, but the Austen and Lefroy families kept in touch over the years, and descendants of Tom have been very involved with the celebrations of the famous author. Tim Lefroy, 77, who is Tom's brother's great grandson, also lives in Winchester, and attended the opening. He spoke about why his young Anglo Irish ancestor would never have married Jane. 'Tom was an impecunious lawyer and couldn't afford to marry Jane – he had yet to start his career.' As the years passed and Jane grew older, she remained unmarried. That's not to say she wasn't courted by other suitors – aged 27 she received a proposal from a local farmer Harris Bing-Wither who was due to inherit a large fortune, but after accepting him, the following day she turned him down. Curator Louise West adds, 'He was a very nice family friend, but rather dull. Considering what we know Jane thought of romance, it's hardly surprising she declined his offer.' Jane was a prolific letter writer and wrote thousands of them in her lifetime, but her sister burned all but 160 of them. Probably because Jane's sharp tongue would have embarrassed many with her witty yet indiscreet revelations about neighbours and family. However perhaps we should all be thankful Jane never married and had children – not least because three of her Jane's six sisters in law died in childbirth – but also, if she had, it's unlikely Jane would have had the time or support to write what are thought to be six of the greatest novels in the English language. And now her tomb inside the spectacular Norman Winchester Cathedral, which is engraved with an epitaph written by her brother Henry, is a shrine to fans who come from all over the world to lay flowers and pay their respects to one of the literary world's most famous women.
