Amusing Aunt Jane

Amusing Aunt Jane comes to Stoke Damerel Church on Sunday 26 July, a musical look at Jane Austen that goes beyond the novels. It's a matinee, running from 14:00 to 16:00, so it's one of those things you can fit into a Sunday afternoon.

The whole thing is built around the music Austen actually had in her own collection, rather than the soundtracks we've come to associate with her stories. The music is woven together with fragments of her life and her writing, so you get the songs alongside the woman who lived with them. It's a bit like stepping into her living room and hearing what she would have heard.

That's where the period instruments come in. The piano is a Broadwood from 1826, and the harp is an Erard from 1814, and the performers wear authentic replica costumes. It's a specific kind of historical interpretation — they're not just playing the notes, they're playing them on the kind of instruments that would have been in a Regency home. The whole project grew out of research by pianist Lisa Timbs, who spent time looking into the Austen family's musical collections, work that was funded by Arts Council England.

On the day, Timbs is on the piano, harpist Annemarie Rhys-Jones joins her, and mezzo-soprano Susan Legg provides the voice. Together they bring that repertoire to life, and the combination of the two instruments and the singing is what carries the afternoon. It's a fairly small ensemble, so it's an intimate way to spend a couple of hours.

Tickets are £15 for adults, and children go in for free, which makes it an easy one to bring the family along to. It's at Stoke Damerel Church, 85 Paradise Road, Stoke, Plymouth PL1 5QL, on Sunday 26 July from 14:00 to 16:00.