WESTMINSTER — For its fall 2015 production, the Bellows Falls Union High School Drama Club presents An Evening of Austen, featuring two one-act adaptations of beloved Jane Austen classics.
The evening begins with Persuasion. In 1806, Anne Elliot, the daughter of a baronet, falls in love with Captain Wentworth, despite his lack of fortune and prospects. Against her heart, she is persuaded to break off her engagement by Lady Russell, a close family friend who has been like a mother to Anne.
Eight years later, brokenhearted, despondent, and ill-used by her family, Anne encounters Captain Wentworth once more, only to learn that he is now rich, very successful-and looking for a wife. The prior years of bitterness and resentment will truly test their love for each other, as well as Anne's will to resist the persuasion of others.
The evening will end with a performance of Sense and Sensibility. At the dawn of the Regency, two sisters, Elinor and Marianne, are thrust into poverty by their brother's scheming and manipulative wife. Reduced to living with their mother in a tiny cottage with their prospects for marriage nearly ruined, the sisters are nevertheless courted by three dynamic men, each with a dark secret.
The shy and awkward Edward Ferrars wins Elinor's cautious but constant heart, neglecting to tell her he is already engaged to another. Colonel Brandon desperately loves Marianne, but his former attachment to the ill-fated Eliza and his old-fashioned habits fill Marianne with mistrust and disdain.
Instead, Marianne, passionate and reckless, falls head-over-heels in love with the dashing Willoughby, only to be deserted when his true character emerges. Their hearts broken, Elinor and Marianne nearly give up on love until fate intervenes.