The Austens

Ring in the new year with Jane Austen and her friends!

The Holy Theatre and the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) New York Metropolitan Region cordially invite you to The Austens — a funny, fierce new dramedy by Sarah Rose Kearns, directed by Andrus Nichols and featuring Kate Hamill as Jane Austen.

This one-time-only benefit performance also stars Evan Horwitz as Thomas Carter, Mahira Kakkar as Cassandra Austen, Carman Lacivita as James Austen, Colleen Litchfield as Anna Austen, Samantha Steinmetz as Martha Lloyd, and Rita Wolf as Mrs. Austen, with Ebony Vines reading stage directions.

Join your fellow Janeites at 2:15 p.m. for complimentary prosecco, light refreshments, and live music in Bar Thalia. The Austens runs from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia.

All tickets include admission to the preshow reception. VIP tickets, moreover, which are priced at $60, help to fund The Holy Theatre’s ongoing educational programming. VIP ticket-holders also receive a special gift box full of Austen-themed treats.


ABOUT THE AUSTENS

It’s the spring of 1810 and Jane Austen has sworn off novel-writing. Crushed by the nonpublication of her novel “Susan,” Jane approaches middle age determined to keep the lid on her ambitions: to take what satisfaction she can in her everyday life as a shabby-genteel spinster, appropriately grateful for the relatively-comfortable home that she now shares with her mother, her beloved sister, and their best friend Martha Lloyd. The plan is working, sort of, till the entrance of Anna — Jane’s troubled teenaged niece — packed off to Chawton Cottage by her stepmother, after she’s embarrassed the family by breaking an engagement. Anna’s recklessness and daring, her pain, and her palpable need of healing stories, gradually revive Jane’s own divine discontent and rekindle her passion for her work. For dedicated Janeites and newcomers alike, The Austens is an ode to female friendship, a love-letter to frustrated artists everywhere, and a lesson in how not to let the bastards get you down.


ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

Kate Hamill (Jane Austen) has been one of the most-produced playwrights in America every year since 2017, and is the 2024-25 season's top-produced playwright. Wall Street Journal Playwright of the Year, 2017; Einhorn Award, 2023. Work includes Pride & Prejudice at Primary Stages / HVSP (originated role of Lizzy; nominee, Off-Broadway Alliance Award), Sense & Sensibility at Bedlam (originated Marianne; winner, Off-Broadway Alliance Award; nominee, Drama League Award); Vanity Fair at the Pearl (originated Becky; nominee, Off-Broadway Alliance Award); The Light & The Dark (the life & times of Artemisia Gentileschi) at CTC / Primary Stages (originated Artemisia; nominee, Off-Broadway Alliance Award); The Odyssey at A.R.T. (originated Circe; 2x Elliot Norton nominee); Mansfield Park at Northlight; Little Women at Primary Stages; The Jungle, Dracula at Classic Stage; Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson at KCRep; The Little Fellow (or: the Queen of Tarts Tells All) at Cygnet; Emma at the Guthrie; BadAss GalBossPower Hour at Primary Stages; The Scarlet Letter at Two River. www.kate-hamill.com

Sarah Rose Kearns (Playwright) is a writer, performer, and lifelong Jane Austen enthusiast. Her stage adaptation of Persuasion, which premiered off-Broadway in 2021, had its second production last autumn at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company in Baltimore. Persuasion will make its UK debut in April 2026 with Q2 Players at the National Archives theatre. Rose’s one-act play, Manydown, which imagines one important night in the lives of the Austen sisters, has been performed at libraries, schools, conferences, historic sites, and theatres in six US states, as well as in the UK and New Zealand. Manydown was recently adapted as a film by writer-director Prerna Ramachandra. In addition to her creative work, Rose is passionate about the work of building strong communities through art. Since its inception in 2020, she has served as a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) committee for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and since 2023, as co-Regional Coordinator for the JASNA New York Metropolitan Region. She is the founding Artistic Director of The Holy Theatre, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization with a mission to make plays and other gatherings that leave people feeling nourished, connected, and more able to be brave. www.sarahrosekearns.com

Andrus Nichols (Director) is an award winning actress, arts leader, and community-builder. She has been recognized by numerous organizations in multiple cities across the country for her work on stage, including: Helen Hayes, Drama League, Lucille Lortel, The OBIES, The IRNES, Eliot Norton, Off-Broadway Alliance, Broadway World, and The Jeff Awards. She was the Co-Founder of the OBIE Award-winning Off Broadway company, Bedlam, where she originated many roles including Elinor Dashwood in Kate Hamill’s Sense & Sensibility, and the title role in the company’s four-actor production of George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan, which she performed over 500 times in theaters up and down the East coast. She worked with Ivo Van Hove on the National Tour of the Young Vic production of A View From The Bridge which played at the Ahmanson Theatre in LA, The Kennedy Center in DC, and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Having recently ventured to the other side of the table, her directing credits include: Our Town (CT Critics’ Circle, And Berkshire Theater Awards nominations), The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, A Christmas Carol, and Peter Pan, as well as staged readings of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter (with Gretchen Mol and Tim Blake Nelson), and developmental workshops with multiple playwrights.

The Holy Theatre is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization in New York City, with a mission to make plays and other gatherings that leave people feeling nourished, connected, and more able to be brave. www.theholytheatre.org

The JASNA New York Metropolitan Region is a regional division of JASNA, the Jane Austen Society of North America, which is the world’s largest literary society devoted to the study of Jane Austen. JASNA New York Metro, the local group, serves book-lovers in and beyond the five boroughs of New York City, creating opportunities for curious, thoughtful individuals to exchange ideas, feel a sense of belonging, and continue learning throughout life. www.jasnany.org