ADAPTING any Jane Austen novel for the stage could well be seen as something of a gargantuan project, bearing in mind the depth and complexity of her novels, but writer and director Tim Luscombe explains why he chose the author's first novel, Northanger Abbey.

"My starting point is that I absolutely love it. Northanger Abbey is my very favourite Jane Austen book and it is a short novel. I just love Henry Tilney - people do."

To anyone who does not know the book, Henry Tilney is heroine Catherine Morland's hero. Catherine has something of an overactive imagination, fuelled by her love of Gothic romantic novels, of which she is an avid reader.

An invitation to accompany the childless Mr and Mrs Allen to Bath gives her the opportunity to be charmed by Bath society. There she meets Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor who invite her to their father's mysterious house, Northanger Abbey.

On arriving, Catherine's imagination begins to run riot, as she sees mystery and intrigue everywhere, except where it actually exists. And it is Henry Tilney who has to take her to task.

"He is so very wise," says Tim. "Always ready to forgive other people. He has every right to be furious with Catherine, but ends up forgiving her, and teaching her to use her imagination in a more sensible way."

"Because Catherine resorts to her fiction all the time, I have adapted characters from Mrs Radcliffe's Mysteries of Udolpho. The characters in the play become these characters and act out some of these mysteries.

"It makes for some Ally McBeal moments of alternative reality," laughs Tim.

"The Mysteries of Udolpho is used in the play as a means of highlighting the theatricals of Catherine's monologues in the novel.

"It is a very theatrical novel and adapts easily for the stage," he adds.

When asked what relevance he thought the novel had for today's readers, Tim replied: "At first, I was going to write completely original stuff, adding a modern plot with Catherine reading Buffy the Vampire and other comic magazines.

"It's not so very different from today, with teenage girls reading magazines as an escape from reality."

The Gothic theme of the play will also be reflected in the lighting design, which will be in the style of the 19th- century German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, who used sepia ink to achieve his distinctive and striking images.

Taking the role of Catherine Morland is Jennie Maitland, whose first professional acting job was at Salisbury Playhouse as part of the Springboard project. She also appeared in Tim Luscombe's production of Alan Ayckbourn's House and Garden, at Salisbury.

Tim describes her as "an excellent comedic actress and very good at playing someone who is 17 years old."

After the run at the Playhouse, Tim is returning to his writing with a play set in the Baltic.

  • Northanger Abbey opens next Thursday and runs until Saturday, September 29, before the production embarks on a six-venue national tour.