Austentatious

Austentatious is back at the Vaudeville Theatre on Monday 26 October, the first of a run of Monday nights throughout the rest of 2026. It's a comedy show that's been selling out in the West End since 2022 and has a BBC Radio 4 broadcast to its name, and the premise is as simple as it sounds: every night the cast improvise a brand-new Jane Austen novel from scratch.

The title comes from the audience, who suggest a name for the book on the night. From there, the cast build the plot, the characters, and the dialogue in period style, with live musical accompaniment running through it. Because it's improvised, no two nights are the same, and the story you get depends entirely on what the room throws at them.

The cast is a revolving line-up of award-winning TV and radio performers, with Rachel Parris, Cariad Lloyd, Joseph Morpurgo and Graham Dickson among the names that rotate through. It's recommended for ages 14 and over, and may contain adult themes, language and content; anyone 14 and under needs to be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over and sit next to them. For those who need it, audio description is provided by VocalEyes and captioning by Claire Hill.

Tickets start from £21.50, with a group rate of £29.50 for ten or more, and a schools/education rate of £25 for ten or more, which includes one free teacher ticket per ten students. Access seating is available at half price. The show runs for about an hour and 50 minutes, including one interval, and starts at 7:30pm. The 26 October performance is audio described, and the 2 November show is open captioned, with further dates on 23 November, 30 November, 7 December and 14 December.