Austen Found

The NZ International Comedy Festival is drawing to a close, and one of the highlights of recent years has been the presence of Penny Ashton, who has regaled us in the past with her take on Austen, (Promise & Promiscuity) and Dickens (Olive Copperbottom). This year, her show is called Austen Found.

With a slightly later start time of 8:15pm, we decided to head into Hataitai for dinner at BambuchiSan, which is what Bambuchi morphed into a couple of years back. I thought it had closed as a result of Covid-19, but it turned out the notice that they placed in their window earlier in the year was merely to announce an extended break, and they’re back in business. They do modern Japanese-inspired food, and very delicious it was too…definitely try the beef cheeks! As we had plenty of time we ploughed into their desserts – the Snickers slice was particularly good.

We found a place to park and walked to BATS with still a bit of time to spare, so had another drink and did the crossword. The foyer, crowded at first, soon emptied as the show in the Dome was announced and nearly everyone headed upstairs. Shortly after, our doors opened and we took our seats.

This show was slightly different to Penny’s previous productions…it was an improv. First up, she got a suggestion of a title from the audience, having first picked a word at random from a book. We ended up with the title Sacred and Scandalous, and it was to feature Margaret Scattybottom, a zebra, a rose garden, and a library. Also unlike the previous shows, she had some assistance in this one, with Lori Dungey playing half the roles, and Jason Smith on piano to help with the songs. The story basically follows Pride & Prejudice, and features pushy mothers, younger sisters, and gossiping villagers, as well as a seemingly-obnoxious new tenant of “The Beehive”, Henry Courtenay of Courtenay Place. Margaret initially dislikes Henry, but through a series of contrivances, set to song, decides to abandon her prospective career as a bride of Christ and ends up becoming the bride of Henry instead. Hooray! All set to song and with many comic interludes, including a long-running gag about taking herself in hand.

All the shows have sold out, but they’ve added an additional show on Saturday night, so if you can get along to that, it’s highly recommended!

 As with previous performances, at the end of the show Penny sells fridge magnets afterwards. Usually they’re $2 each, or three for $5, but this year, due to a delivery failure, they’re $2 each or two for $5. “Maths was never my strong point!” simpered Penny. A bargain, nonetheless.