SANDITON SEASON 2
Parker Brothers Build The Boardwalk
Created by Carol Lisa O’Brien
An innovative, Zoom-acted, re-telling of the Sanditon story by Jane Austen, narrated by our founder and chair (and Jane Austen’s fifth great niece) Caroline Jane Knight from Chawton, where Jane wrote Sanditon in 1817.
Written by nurse, Carol Lisa O’Brien, and performed in the pandemic by 30 strangers from around the world, brought to your living room by the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation.
Free to watch – any advertising revenue will be used to fund literacy projects.
‘I wouldn’t have written it if it hadn’t been for the Pandemic’ – the words of Nurse turned Writer and Director Carol Lisa O’Brien.
Sanditon 2: Parker Brothers Build the Boardwalk is an innovative online DIY theatrical extravaganza for our times. Created and performed with the same sense of joie de vivre and familial amateur dramatics as the plays Jane Austen and her family devised and put on together in their father’s barn at Steventon more than 200 years ago.
This is a 10-part reimagining of the unfinished Sanditon story told in digital theatre form all filmed and produced by the power of Zoom. Penned by Jane Austen in 1817 whilst she lay gravely ill at home, Sanditon, originally titled ‘The Brothers’ took Jane, through the powers of her own imagination, away from her distress, out of her uncertain and uncomfortable circumstances and directly to her ‘happy place,’ the seaside.
Carol Lisa channelled her desire for a happy ending into an Austenesque re-telling of the Sanditon story and reached out to Facebook fans, asking them if they would come forward as volunteer actors. 30 people from 4 different countries including USA, Canada, Australia and the UK came together. They range from those with zero acting experience to professional performers and screenwriters and from a 9-year-old to a retired diplomat. This animated, eclectic ensemble of students and teachers, real estate workers, museum assistants, fitness experts and surgical technicians alongside communications managers and the founder of the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation and fifth great niece of Jane Austen herself, Caroline Jane Knight, became a virtual theatre company. Just like in ‘Mansfield Park’ family members and their friends, old high school classmates and complete strangers alike were allotted roles.
This troupe of thespians had their fair share of obstacles to overcome, with work schedules and Covid itself meaning a few actors had to be swapped out and replacements found. Actors also raided their own homes, garages and garden sheds for the perfect props and scenery. Zoom backgrounds, including those from Jane Austen’s own home, were put in place. In the process, something magical and miraculous has been produced, the script sparkles, characters crackle with a new lease of life, star quality acting talents have been unearthed and the whole tour de force of the show is exhilarating, just like a reinvigorating dip in the sea at Sanditon.
‘The result,’ says Carol Lisa, ‘is better than I ever thought it could be. We have something to share that others will enjoy.’ And indeed, they already are with a loyal fan base of 1000s emerging and with viewers clamouring for more, this highly entertaining and hugely satisfying series truly is ‘a gift to everyone’ as Carol Lisa first intended.
Brought to you by the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation…
The Foundation connects a world-wide grass roots community of people who believe in the power of literacy and want to help those who need it, particularly at this time of international education crisis. The Foundation is a registered not for profit organisation run by volunteers and our mission is to Connect Through Literacy.
Everyone involved in this DIY Austen Drama is a volunteer. If you have enjoyed watching, please consider making a donation to one of our Literacy Programs: