Gothic Horror Meets The Swingin' 60s In Noveltease Theatre's NORTHANGER ABBEY

Noveltease Theatre (Noveltease) debuts the second literary burlesque adaptation in its inaugural season with Jane Austen's 1803 novella Northanger Abbey, running November 15 & 16 at the Auditorium at University Heights Center.

Cathy Morland imagines her life will be exactly like the heroines of her favorite novels. She's not wrong. As two sets of potential friends and lovers vie for Cathy's affections, she is drawn ever closer to the world she's read about in books -- full of ancient edifices, horrid family secrets, and mysterious personages. But Cathy must learn to separate her expectations from reality if she wishes to unlock the secrets of the fabled Northanger Abbey.

Noveltease's production of Northanger Abbey parallels Austen's satire on the gothic romance to the 1960s pulp novel with camp, humor, and jazz.

Northanger Abbey will be performed on November 15 & 16 at The Auditorium at U-Heights, where Noveltease is a resident company in the U-Heights Theatre Alliance. Directed by Nikki Przasnyski (Boeing Boeing, Second Story Rep), Northanger Abbey features Noveltease Core Company members Onyx Asili, Jesse Belle-Jones, Cheeky Diamondz, Fosse Jack, Al Lykya, Trixie Paprika, Sailor St. Claire and Polly Wood alongside guest artists Willy Nilly and Verity Germaine. Northanger Abbey is adapted by Fosse Jack and Sailor St. Claire, choreographed by Fosse Jack and Al Lykya, with lighting design by Angelo Domitri and set design by Jyles Rodgers.

Northanger Abbey is the follow-up to Noveltease's successful inaugural production, ADVENTURE! Marvelous Tales of the Baron Munchausen, which packed the U-Heights Auditorium for two nights in April. The company emerges from a past history of collaboration between co-Artistic Directors Sailor St. Claire and Fosse Jack. After adapting Tennessee Williams memoirs and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, in addition to a few short burlesque ballets choreographed by Fosse Jack, the pair launched Noveltease Theatre as the first neo-burlesque company to focus solely on fully-scripted literary burlesque adaptations. Drawing on the historical format of scripted literary adaptations of 1880s burlesque, and infused with contemporary striptease choreography, Noveltease reworks the literary canon for contemporary audiences through feminist, queer, and sex-positive standpoints.

Noveltease Theatre productions are suitable for persons aged 18+

Noveltease Theatre is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike.

Shunpike is the 501(c)(3) non-profit agency that provides independent arts groups in Washington State with the services, resources, and opportunities they need to forge their own paths to sustainable success.

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