Emma at the Rose Theatre: Jane Austen will be laughing in her grave

Cast of Emma at Rose Theatre - (Marc Brenner)

Austen purists beware: Ava Pickett’s modern-day take on Emma may well give you palpitations. And sure, all the social media chat and nightclub outings do feel a little on the nose. But if you can look past the obvious attempts to drag the story into the present and instead lean into Pickett’s natural flair for comedy, you’re in for a lively and often downright hysterical night.

Welcome to Highbury, 2025. Emma should be graduating from Oxford, but after flunking her exams, she’s been reluctantly forced back home to her working-class family. So, what else is there to do but meddle in everyone else’s business? Just as in Austen’s classic, she’s brilliant but obnoxious; quick-witted but petulant, too. Dishing out bad advice at every turn, she soon spins a web of misplaced affections and chaos – all the while remaining blissfully convinced she knows best.