Penny Ashton Presents PROMISE AND PROMISCUITY: A NEW MUSICAL BY JANE AUSTEN AND PENNY ASHTON

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman in possession of a theatre script...must be in want of an audience. Charmingly accomplished Penny Ashton (Hot Pink Bits/ Radio New Zealand) mashes up Beethoven, bonnets and big balls...with alacrity! Fresh from three years of huge global success where it has garnered numerous awards, sold-out houses and standing ovations from Edinburgh to Adelaide to Mosgiel, comes Miss Ashton's theatrical triumph for its Wellington debut at the legendary Circa Theatre. A venue she feels very privileged to be welcomed into.

Follow the fortunes of Miss Elspeth Slowtree as she battles literary snobbery, cousin Horatio's digestions and her mother's nerves, armed with a blushing countenance, excellent ukulele skills and being quite bright - you know... for a girl. One Kiwi tackles all of Austen's characters with song, dance and appalling cross-stitching.

WINNER: BEST PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY, AUCKLAND FRINGE / PATRON'S PICK, WINNIPEG FRINGE / BEST THEATRE WEEK THREE, ADELAIDE FRINGE

Penny Ashton is NZ's own global comedienne having performed over 500 solo shows all over the world. She has represented New Zealand in Theatresports and Performance Poetry and has performed by invitation at The Glastonbury and Jane Austen Festivals. She is a regular and original panelist on Radio NZ National's The Panel and is a busy marriage celebrant. She also recently discovered she is related to Jane Austen's rumoured flirtation, Thomas Langlois Lefroy. She is his 5th Great Niece! (This story is told in Becoming Jane with Anne Hathaway). To complete the fairytale ending Ashton is also taking a few weeks out of her March schedule to live the Austen dream and get hitched herself.

AUCKLAND
Dates: 3 May - 21 May (No shows Mondays or May 14)
Venue: Circa Studio, Circa Theatre
Tickets: $25 to $35
Bookings: 04 8017992, www.circa.co.nz