Jo Norland
Writing coach and creator of the Write in Ten writing program
My Writing
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Pride and Prejudice: A Play on Jane Austen's Words
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90 minute full-length or 50 minute one-act stageplay (9F 7M)
Jane Austen's most popular novel, adapted with dialogue derived almost entirely from the novel's sparkling original text, sculpted into a taut dramatic arc, enlivened by modern stage conventions such as parallel scenes, and dramatic ensemble performances of the letters. Online production performed by Shake-Scene Classics theatre company broadcast by Jane Austen's House, January 27, 2026.
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"To create such a congruous piece of theatre, honour the original text and maintain the storytelling, the characters, was some feat. I'd go as far as to say, you didn't need to know the piece, which is some accomplishment."
Martin Paul Roche, Playwright and Reviewer
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Contact me if you wish to read the script.
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Lizzy, Darcy & Jane
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90 minute stageplay (9F 5M)
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Does the author shape the lives of her creations -- or is it the other way around?
In Lizzy, Darcy and Jane, Jane Austen pits her wit and will against her greatest adversary and ally: Elizabeth Bennet. Heady with her first taste of love, young Jane creates Elizabeth in the midst of her own dizzying courtship with dashing Tom Lefroy. When Jane's real-life romance sours, she sentences Elizabeth to marry the odious Mr. Collins and commits herself to an equally disastrous marriage.
The fates of the author, the novel and its heroine are at stake. Elizabeth Bennet must take action.
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Lizzy, Darcy and Jane is published by Concord Theatricals and has been produced on four continents.
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Mothers Have Nine Lives
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40 minute stageplay (12F, multi-rolling possible)
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Gina needs a double stroller for her twin daughters and she needs it now. Marge jetsets from the boardroom to the nursery, and back, double time. And Kim will convince the powers-that-be that her daughter deserves a place in the gifted students class. Fasten your seatbelts for a whistle stop tour of the highs and lows of modern motherhood. Nine mothers, many questions and no easy answers. Their stories are linked by the games of three girls who know one thing for sure: Being the mommy is the best part.
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Mothers Have Nine Lives premiered off Broadway, NY at Playwrights Horizons Theatre, directed by Gloria Muzio.
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Photo: Ellie Ward, Bridge House Theatre, Penge, UK. April 16-26, 2025
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Cycle
15 minute stageplay (1M 3F)
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Stuart and Veronica are adamant that their mid-terrace neighbour, Julia, must not wheel her bike across their backyard to access the road because it would disturb the baby.
Julia appears ready to accommodate (she's a pole dancer, after all, so she's flexible). Yet somehow, she manages to manoeuvre her way not just across their lawn but right into their coveted end terrace house.
Cycle has been produced in London and South Africa.
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Microfiction
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Fifty word stories are my playpen, my laboratory and my soul-spa. I know I'm onto something when I feel the tears at the back of my throat, or a surge of joy in my chest. I also urge my coaching students to give it a go because the low stakes helps overcome resistance to getting started or taking risks, and the word count challenges you to consider every syllable. And every now and then, a fifty word story germinates into an epic.
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