Quintessentially English is what Jane Austen does best and this adaptation of her first novel Northanger Abbey, by Tim Luscombe and directed by Karen Simpson, is just that.

Eccentric and spirited, leading lady Catherine Morland (Eva Feiler) is whisked away to Bath by her aunt, where she is caught up in the social whirl she has been deprived of thus far.

Infectiously energetic and mad as a box of frogs, Morland is so enraptured with the Gothic world, her imagination begins to run wild and fiction starts to play out as reality - or so she thinks.

Her giggly whispers with her best friend Isabella Thorpe (Annabelle Terry) about love and romance - and their favourite novel Mysteries of Udolpho - are charming to see and her almost desperate-like obsession with finding the man of her dreams is a common problem that plagues us all even 200 years on!

The ensuing drama of a walk in the country and the blossoming of new relationships is heart-warming and a reminder of a simpler time.

The way in which Feiler captures Morland's oddness is cleverly done, in that at times her absurdity could potentialy alienate her from the audience but in reality, this just makes her all the more endearing.

With such a tiny cast, you would be forgiven for thinking it might be impossible for the actors to seamlessly step out on stage as a newly recreated character, but somehow it was effortlessly done.

The object of Morland's affection, Henry Tilney, a strapping young gentleman, is every bit the Austen heartthrob and is the calming, sturdy influence to Morland's erratic demeanour.

Morland's 'descent into madness' as you might like to call it, while staying at Northanger Abbey with her beau is amusingly done and a welcome bit of humour from an otherwise, but not unpleasant, straight first half.

Comforting and gentle, the production envelopes you in a warm, loving embrace, like a cup of tea by the fire on a rainy day.

Northanger Abbey is on at the Theatre Royal Windsor until Saturday (March 25).

Call the box office on 01753 853888 for tickets.