OUR culture seems to have an endless fascination with the 19th-century novel, not least the work of such great, English women writers as the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne), Jane Austen and George Eliot.

Besides the many big screen costume dramas, we have also had the popular, televisual send-up Bridgerton and, of course, Isobel McArthur’s multiple-award-winning stage parody Pride & Prejudice (*sort of) – which began its illustrious life at Glasgow’s Tron Theatre.

It isn’t too surprising, therefore, that the first offerings of this year’s summer season in ­Scottish theatre should include Bard In The ­Botanics’ version of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s (PFT’s) new adaptation of Jane Austen’s evergreen ­debut novel Sense And Sensibility.

The latter – a co-production between PFT and OVO St Albans – is presented in a crisp, clear script by Frances Poet. It is, in many ­respects, a conventional rendering of the ­famous tale of the Dashwood sisters, young women of the ­landed gentry, who, along with their mother, find ­themselves impoverished following the death of the family patriarch.

There is – as Ang Lee’s star-studded 1995 ­movie expressed – abundant drama in ­Austen’s story of greed, manipulation, romance, ­dishonesty and heartbreak. We see this in ­earnest when Chris Coxon’s weak-kneed John Dashwood (who, as the sole male heir to the Dashwood estate) all but disinherits his mother and sisters.

READ MORE: Scottish icon Lulu says hearing aids will be a 'major breakthrough'

This he does at the behest of his ­overbearing and avaricious wife, Fanny. Austen’s ­primary point is that in early-19th century ­England, even the most accomplished of women – including women like Fanny – were entirely ­reliant on their relations with men to secure their ­ financial ­wellbeing.

However, Nichols’s production plays too strongly to Fanny’s emotionally coercive ­powers. Between them, the director and actor Nina Kristofferson have contrived to turn the character into a cartoon caricature of punitive acquisitiveness.

Elsewhere, however, the performances are ­vivid but more nuanced. Lola Aluko’s ­Marianne Dashwood, for instance, bursts out of the set and into the wings as if the stage is too small to contain her passion and non-conformism.

Kirsty Findlay (playing Elinor Dashwood) and Robin Simpson (as the Dashwood women’s ­benefactor Sir John Middleton) give warm, empathetic performances. Luke Wilson’s ­Willoughby is as seductive, convincing and, ­ultimately, as dastardly as the drama requires.

Designer Nick Trueman’s semi-minimalist set is dominated by period lights that are moved around, somewhat clumsily, on neo-classical columns. Julie Carlin’s excellent costumes are very much in the vein of those period films ­starring Emma Thompson.

The production’s most distinguishing feature is, arguably, its use of popular music from the 20th and 21st centuries. One wonders if the audience isn’t sent to sleep by the cast’s early rendition of Coldplay’s dreary hit Viva La Vida.

Other songs that get instrumental or ­vocal ­outings include numbers by the likes of INXS, Phil Collins and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. ­Fashionable though this musical score is, it seems like a pale imitation of the more creative use of pop music in McArthur’s Austen ­adaptation.

Various dates until September 27: pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com