“I think the unique Cyphers stamp on Jane Austen will surprise people. They’re not coming in to watch a straight adaptation.”
Helen Raynham as a Gothic heroine in Northanger Abbey.
What’s your name? Helen Raynham
What role(s) do you play in Northanger Abbey? Isabella Thorpe and Eleanor Tilney
What’s your favourite scene or moment in the show? I enjoy the scenes between Catherine and Isabella and how their friendship develops.
What have you enjoyed most about making the show? Creating the gothic elements of the Abbey, which appear in Catherine’s imagination. It’s been a fun process working as an ensemble to create the various rooms, corridors and soundscapes.
What’s going to surprise people about the show? I think the unique Cyphers stamp on Jane Austen will surprise people. They’re not coming in to watch a straight adaptation. There is lots of multi-roling, minimal set and inventive use of the props we do have.
Do you have any pre-show rituals? It’s really fun when warming up as an ensemble, particularly in a show like this as we can start to engage with each other and work together as a group. Our favourite rehearsal game is keepy-uppy – where the task of keeping a ball in the air is a lot harder than you think!
What do you do when you’re not doing theatre? I’m a circus monkey. When I’m not in the rehearsal room I can usually be found hanging from a piece of aerial apparatus. I teach and perform in aerial and am currently looking to join my two great loves of theatre and circus together.
What one thing do you hope the audience will take away from this production? That the themes of Northanger Abbey are universal and not just relevant to the period and that Jane Austen can also be funny.
HELEN RAYNHAM trained at the Guildford School of Acting. Theatre credits include: Alice in Wonderland (UK & Ireland tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (HighTide Festival); Shakespeare for Breakfast (Blenheim Palace, Literary Festival); The Accrington Pals (Electric Theatre, Guildford, GSA).
See Helen in NORTHANGER ABBEY at: LONDON | Pleasance | 7:45pm, 28-29 November 2017 | Tickets