How MasterChef inspired a celebration of Jane Austen

THE idea was born after a stint on MasterChef a few years ago. 

It was a special Jane Austen themed episode in 2011 which took place in the Royal Crescent, Bath, as part of the city’s annual festival celebrating the 18th-century author. 

Actor Adrian Lukis – famed for his appearance as George Wickham in the 1995 BBC adaptation of her novel Pride and Prejudice – was asked to appear as one of the well-known personalities to taste the contestants’ dishes. 

His involvement saw him meet the festival organiser, which was when he confessed his desire to perform some of the most memorable duologues from Austen books. He discovered it was a popular idea. 

Ever since, An Evening with Jane Austen has been appearing at sold-out venues including the V&A, the Assembly Rooms in Bath and the former home of Austen’s brother – Godmersham Park. Next month it comes to the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. 

“I’d had this idea for a while to do readings of her work. There are some wonderful duologues. 

“We tried it out for a few months and we found people really enjoyed this taste of Austen. 

“It sort of transformed as we went along. It is meant to be a sort of informal set of readings but I will be in my dinner jacket. 

“I get to play Darcy and Wickham which is good,” he said. 

In the grandeur of the Royal Pavilion music room audiences can expect drama, comedy and romance brought to life by Lukis and Caroline Langrishe, who is known for her appearances in Lovejoy. 

While the order and choice of recital material changes regularly, guests could be joined by the comic absurdity of Sense and Sensibility’s The Dashwoods, experience the passion between Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot in Persuasion, hear Wickham’s sob story from Pride and Prejudice or revisit the renowned failed proposal scene between Darcy and Lizzy where she utters the unforgettable rejection: “I had not known you a month before I felt you were the last man in the world whom I could ever marry.”

Musical accompaniment will be provided by harpist Camilla Pay, and soprano Rosie Lomas will recreate the sounds of the Regency era with pieces by Mozart and Handel. 

Adrian, 59, who trained at Drama Studio London, is also known for his appearances on stage, in several television dramas and shows such as The Bill and Judge John Deed.  Last year he appeared as Laurence Olivier in the European premiere of the Austin Pendleton play Orson’s Shadow at the Southwark Playhouse in London.  He is currently performing at the National Theatre in The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov.  But he is by far best known for his portrayal of Mr Wickham in the television series adaptation starring Colin Firth.

He said: “I didn’t anticipate the response it would get – none of us did. We did a big read through and we thought it was a good adaptation.  “I felt there was a really wonderful group of actors – I had worked with Colin before and I think he was my favourite to film scenes with.  “We hoped it was something that would make a mark – but no one realised it would be as defining as it was.  “But really you just film your bit.  “You arrive on set and then you go away. It’s very hard to get a sense of overview.”

In fact his acclaimed casting as Wickham only came after the first choice for the role turned it down.

He said: “It was originally going to be Rupert Graves but he was not available or something like that.  “This happens from time to time. I think originally they were looking at casting me as Fitzwilliam (Colonel Fitzwilliam who is Darcy’s cousin).  “So I was called in – they bunged me on to the set, stuck me in a frock coat and then I did a screen test.

“I do not see Wickham as an out-and-out villain. People are not meant to see him as that – he is an adventurer, he doesn’t have any money – we all know someone like that. He lives on his wits.  “I went about preparing for the character by using how he is described by others in the book – he is seen as an amiable man who is economical with the truth. That’s how I chose to play him, not as an archetypal villain.”

Adrian – a descendant of the Channel Islands archaeologist Frederick Lukis – says his favourite Austen characters include several of the Mansfield Park cast like Sir Thomas Bertram and Mrs Norris but he particularly likes clergyman Mr Collins from Pride and Prejudice, whom he calls an “extraordinary hilarious buffoon”.

He is particularly fascinated by the “rather naive and innocent” Catherine Morland, the main character of the gothic parody Northanger Abbey.

While typically presumed to be novels popular with women or girls because love stories are intertwined in the plot, Adrian says they are universally popular for the dry wit and humour her work is best known for.

“A lot of men like Jane Austen. The novels are observations on human nature.”

The perfect example of this is a passage on Louisa Musgrove’s accident in Persuasion, he says, which is “superb” and displays the “most mordant humour”.  “Austen was not a sentimental woman and they are not sentimental stories. They can be really quite brutal but I like it.”

• An Evening with Jane Austen starring Adrian Lukis and Caroline Langrishe takes place in the music room at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton on Sunday, September 4.  Doors open at 7pm for 7.30pm.  Tickets cost £32.50 or £28.50 for members and includes an interval glass of white wine or soft drink in the state banqueting room. VIP meet the performers tickets cost £40 or £35 for members including reserved seating and a meeting with Adrian Lukis and Caroline Langrishe over a glass of sparkling wine after the performance in the red drawing room.  Buy tickets in person at the Royal Pavilion, by calling 03000 290902 or online by clicking here
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The love story that won the hearts of a nation

First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice is a comment on society and its attitude to class, morality and marriage.  It follows the story of heroine Elizabeth Bennet who is encouraged to marry for economic gain but would rather marry for love.  George Wickham, a member of the local militia, has history with one of the book's main protagonist's Fitzwilliam Darcy.  His charming demeanour and his story claiming to be badly treated by Darcy attracts sympathy from Lizzy, to the point that her aunt warns her not to fall in love and marry him. As a result she judges Darcy's appearance of an unwelcoming and somewhat snobbish manner as testament to the truth of his account.

But during the course of the plot his true nature as an unprincipled libertine - a bit of a charmer, liar and gambler - is revealed.  He has a weakness for 'silly young women' but is really on the hunt for a rich heiress to solve his gambling debts. Although he clearly admires intelligent, witty, sensible Lizzy.  It is thought took inspiration from Tom Jones, a novel by Henry Fielding, where two boys – one rich, one poor – grow up together and have a confrontational relationship when they are adults for the story.  Brighton is mentioned several times in the author's most famous novel and provides the setting for an important plot development.  Brighton is the place where the flirtatious Lydia Bennett, the younger sister of Elizabeth, flees with her roguish lover Wickham.  The choice of town was no accident.  Brighton’s reputation as a place to indulge in immoral behaviour was well established by 1813, and popularly exemplified by its great patron.  But this dubious reputation was already in place by the time Prince George first visited the town in 1783, and had developed in parallel with its renown as a health resort from the 1750s onward.

Austen’s references to Brighton in the novel are "peppered with scorn", as described archivists at the city's museum.

In one chapter a character said she would be "of less importance even as a common flirt than she has been here" and another description says her imagination of a visit to Brighton "comprised every possibility of earthly happiness" with the streets of "that gay bathing-place covered with officers" where she could see herself "the object of attention".  It also seems the author had a personal distaste for the town. In a letter sent to her sister in 1799, Austen said: "I assure you that I dread the idea of going to Brighton as much as you do, but I am not without hopes that something may happen to prevent it."