EASTLEIGH-born actor and producer Rebecca Vaughan brings Jane Austen’s most celebrated female characters to life in her powerful theatrical production, Austen’s Women.

The show, described as “tightly corseted but frilly, flowing and flamboyant in all the right places” by The Stage, beautifully illuminates the souls of Austen’s leading ladies Emma Woodhouse, Elizabeth Bennet, Mrs Norris, Miss Bates and many more. Austen speaks for the yearning heart as much now as in her own day. But just how much have things really changed for women since then?

Austen’s Women was Rebecca’s solo debut and was a resounding hit at the Edinburgh Festival in 2009. It arrives in Basingstoke’s Central Studio on Thursday, June 16 at 7.30pm.

Rebecca, who was the Eastleigh Carnival Junior Princess of 1988, believes that her love for literature links back to her home town.

She said: “I really think that the old Eastleigh library, with its wooden floors and Windsor chairs dotted around everywhere, was where my first interest in the magic of books and literature came from.

“That interest has stayed with me until this day.”

Tickets for this brilliant distillation of 19th century feminism, priced £10.50, concessions available, can be purchased from the box office on 01256 418318 or online at centralstudio.co.uk.