Jane Austen’s PersuasionAdapted by Jennifer Le Blanc

Jane Austen’sPERSUASION

Adaptation by JENNIFER LE BLANCOriginally produced by – San Jose Stage Company

Randall King, Artistic Director Cathleen King, Executive Director

World Premiere opened at – The StageSan Jose, California

April 3, 2013Directed by Kenneth Kelleher

Produced by Acacia Theatre CompanyMequon, WI

Janet Peterson, Artistic Director Open:

July 9-22nd, 2014Directed by Tim Rebers

Press & Awards“Slyly adapted by playwright Jennifer Le Blanc, Persuasion rings with Austen’s customary elegance and wit, the spirit of independent thinking that made her one of the greatest novelists of her day.”

– Karen D’Souza, San Jose Mercury News

“The play is very faithful to the novel, […] Austen’s characters seem so perfectly suited to the stage, it’s a wonder we don’t see as many theatrical productions of her work as we do film and television versions.”

– Sean Conwell, San Jose.com

“It also includes Le Blanc's adaptation, which splices Austen's superbly controlled, free-indirect speech with characters' own voices, deftly passing the narrative baton among them in a way that advances the story without feeling stilted.”

– Mike Fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

2013 Silicon Valley Small Theatre Awards – Artsalot

Standout New Works: Persuasion San Jose Stage Company

Photos by Dave Lepori

The script fluidly combines direct address and dialogue to keep the audience abreast of the characters’ locations and intricate social and familial ties.

– Selena Milewski, Milwaukee Express

Audience

There are no more tickets available online.

Playwright & Actor

http://jenniferleblanc.com/persuasion /PersuasionStagePlay

“[…] locals may recall the excellent 2011 production of Sense and Sensibility by TheatreWorks as one such triumph. With San Jose Stage’s Persuasion, a version written by local actress Jennifer Le Blanc, who appeared as Elinor Dashwood in the aforementioned Sense and Sensibility, there’s a definite sense that the torch has been passed.”

– Sean Conwell, San Jose.com

Photo by Gregg Le Blanc

Recent Coverage…American Theatre Magazine, Oct 2013 –Chad Jones

“Jenn is just so lovely and so nice,” Gunderson adds, “but she comes to rehearsal, and she’s ready and aware and vigilant.” […]

Gunderson recalls that audition […] “… She leads with undeniable talent. You could tell she was thinking faster than anyone in the room. She didn’t tell me until two weeks into rehearsals that she was, for a while, a biochemistry major. …”

Now that Gunderson and Le Blanc have formed a solid writer-actor bond, Gunderson has said, only half-joking, that she wants Le Blanc “in everything of mine, if I can help it.” […]

The reunion will occur on the occasion of Silent Sky, slated for Palo Alto–based TheatreWorks in January. Le Blanc will play the older sister of astronomer Henrietta Leavitt in Gunderson’s dramatic blend of science, history and romance. […]

San Jose Mercury News, June 2013 – Lou Francher

“One of the reasons I love acting is that it's an opportunity to practice compassion. You spend your life playing another character. You have to find humanity, even in an evil villain,” she says.

[…]

"It was a wonderful opportunity, figuring out distinct characters who are also the same people -- that's rare," she says.

Also rare is her work with the Arabian Shakespeare Festival. Officially founded in January 2013, but dating back to 2010, the Santa Clara company is involved in a pilot program with the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain.

"In 2012, I went with two other actors to workshop Shakespeare with Arabic women," LeBlanc explains. "It was life changing."

http://bit.ly/sjmnJenn[full article]… before she heads into

rehearsals for Silent Sky, she’ll be working with the San Francisco–based Arabian Shakespeare Festival on A Message by Kuwaiti playwright Hussain Al Musalam.

http://bit.ly/tcgLGJL [full article]

Photo by Gregg Le Blanc

Cerimon House

www.AmiosNYC.org

Photos by Gregg Le Blanc

Photos by Trav Williams

thank youjennifer@jenniferleblanc.com /PersuasionStagePlay @PersuasionPlay

Twelfth Night, Pacific Repertory - Photo by Gregg Le Blanc