Though the 1995 movie Clueless has made its own mark on the cultural zeitgeist, its source material may be even more iconic. (Ugh, as if!)
Jane Austen’s 1815 novel Emma follows the rich young Emma Woodhouse. She’s highly intelligent, beautiful and spoiled by her life in the British landed gentry. Although she’s a 21-year-old who wishes to never marry, Emma loves matchmaking — often in ways that cause trouble for those involved. In classic Austen fashion, Emma and her companions do all find themselves in happy relationships by the end of the novel, despite misunderstandings and mistakes along the way.
Heather McHenry-Kroetch, the director of the Spokane Civic Theatre’s production of this classic rom-com, kicking off 2026 on the main stage, has loved Austen since junior high and has read her complete works multiple times.
Given that McHenry-Kroetch prefers directing shows based on literature as well as quirky adaptations, Kate Hamill’s take on Emma fit her vision perfectly. Since the script included some anachronisms already, the director decided to lean into the modern tweaks. Mr. Knightley is only five years older than Emma in the script, rather than 18. Phrases like “told you so,” “locking” a relationship down and the ever-useful “Mwahahaha!” are sprinkled throughout. The tone of Emma is playful and energetic, in contrast to many traditional Austen performances.
“It feels a little bit like jumping off a cliff,” McHenry-Kroetch says. “You have all this source material and all of that, but you don’t know what it’s supposed to look like.”
At the center of the stage is a spinning fireplace. Platforms on which to stand can be rolled on and off the stage. Throughout the entire play there’s not one blackout, the brief window of darkness that usually accommodates a set change. Instead, Emma continues talking or performing in some way. In that sense, McHenry-Kroetch said, it can feel a lot like a musical.
Dancing, often crucial to the typical Austen plotline, adds to that perception. It’s certainly been more work than initially thought — a choreographer was even brought in, surprising several cast members.
“I believe one or two cast members said, ‘If I’d have known it was a musical…’” McHenry-Kroetch says.
It adds a challenging layer for the actors who, in some scenes, must deliver their lines while dancing across the stage.
Phoenix Tage plays Frank Churchill, a confident, rich and likeable man who has a mutual flirtation with Emma. Tage hopes the audience can appreciate the amount of work that goes into each element they’ll see on stage — especially the dancing.
“All the little technicalities that we put into it … All the bits and pieces that when you see it come together, it seems like ‘Oh, that seems so simple.’” Tage says. “That’s what I would hope [the audience] would take away, is the craft we put into it.”
Tage dreamed of becoming a film actor while growing up in a small Washington town without much access to performance. After seeing himself on film, however, he pivoted to a theater degree at the University of Idaho. Much of his life since has been influenced by the performing arts — he met his wife after seeing her perform on stage with Spokane’s long-gone Interplayers Theatre. Though he took a long break from performing while raising his daughter and working in property management, Emma brought him back.
“It was really this script and working with Heather that pulled me back in,” Tage says. “I’ve never worked with Heather, but her reputation precedes her.”
According to Tage, auditions for Emma were highly competitive. It would seem that the combination of the play’s source material and its director’s reputation intrigued many of those in Spokane’s theatre scene. With only a 10-person cast, it was difficult to find a spot in the troupe. Luckily, Tage said it didn’t feel too cutthroat.
“I think that’s what’s so great about Spokane in general is that there is such a positive atmosphere amongst actors and people in theater,” he says. “We just all want to see good theater.”
Spokane Civic Theatre has been a place for community theater since it was founded in 1947, nearly 79 years ago. While impressive, Jane Austen has it beat by more than triple. On Dec. 16, 2025, fans around the world celebrated the 250th anniversary of her birthday. On that same day, Jocelyn Caughlan was celebrating her 24th.
Caughlan plays the titular character and the star of the show. She described Emma as smarter than anyone else in the play — which can lead to the character getting ahead of herself. Though Emma has money, intelligence and a wide social circle, Caughlan notes there’s a slight hollowness to her.
“She’s wanting to be something more than just a pretty, wealthy woman that’s trying to help people find love, you know?” Caughlan says. “It just eats her alive, seeing all these really accomplished young women around her … And she’s flawed. And I think Emma being flawed is the worst possible thing in her life.”
Caughlan hopes audiences leave the production with a newfound kindness toward others.
“I would love people to walk away looking at everyone with sympathy, empathy and compassion, because we don’t know where people come from or what background they have,” she says.
Emma • Jan. 23-Feb. 8; Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm • $20-$40 • Spokane Civic Theatre • 1020 N. Howard St.