What do you get when you combine Die Hard and Jane Austen? Hectic, wacky comedic brilliance.

Writer Jessica Messenger has done a fantastic job with the script bringing in all the familiar characters from the iconic movie and imbuing them with Jane Austen persuasions. It was wonderfully chaotic but true to the storyline, a tribute to the direction of the multi-talented Jessica.

The three performers, each taking on four or five roles, deliver outstanding performances. Their rapid character switches are cleverly managed with quick hat and jacket changes from coatracks on either side of the stage.

Jessica shines as Hans Gruber, capturing the villain’s menacing presence with precision, while also portraying Argyle, the lively driver with a penchant for bawdy poetry. Esther Longhurst takes on the role of John McClane, the retired naval captain turned reluctant hero, complete with a blood-spattered white singlet, and also nails the smarmy sleaze of Harry Ellis. Amanda Jean brings Holly Gennaro to life as a spirited woman grappling with the prospect of spinsterhood at 29, only to be reunited with her long-lost admirer, McClane. She also plays the sinister brothers Karl and Theo, Gruber’s ruthless enforcers, with equal conviction.

A key part of Die Hard’s storyline is the communication between goodies and baddies in the siege. But what would they have used in Jane Austen’s era? Jessica cleverly solves this issue with a couple of hilarious surprises. At the performance on Sunday night there was a lovely moment when, during a tense confrontation between Gruber and McClane, a plaintive child’s voice rang out from the audience: “It’s scary”. Whereupon Jessica immediately stepped back from her character, agreed with the child that it was a bit scary, offered to get rid of her German accent to make it a bit less scary, and then slipped straight back into the scene. Beautiful.

This show will be fun even for those unfamiliar with the movie but even a little knowledge of the movie and/or the predilections of Jane Austen will elevate your enjoyment, possibly to hysterical laughter levels. Please don’t miss it.