jane and rochester

Kelsey Short as Jane Eyre and Ben Warwick as Mr Rochester

Jane Eyre

Malvern Theatres

****

Enter if you dare the foreboding doors at Thornfield Hall, for this spectacular world premiere of a major UK tour of Jane Eyre, adapted by Nick Lane, at Malvern Theatres this autumn.

Produced by Blackeyed Theatre in association with South Hill Park in Bracknell and supported by Arts Council England, Jane Eyre includes live music written specially for the production by award-winning composer George Jennings to accompany the dark secrets and unforgettable portrayal of a woman’s quest for freedom and equality.

Follow Jane Eyre through a troubled childhood with the Reeds at Gateshead Hall, an oppressive education at Lowood School and her love for Mr Rochester at Thornfield Hall.

The actor-musicians featured in this timeless Gothic masterpiece, written by Charlotte Bronte under the male pseudonym Currer Bell, are Kelsey Short as Jane Eyre, Ben Warwick as Edward Rochester and Mr Brocklehurst, Camilla Simson as Mrs Fairfax, Bertha Mason, Aunt Reed and Mary Rivers, Eleanor Toms as Blanche Ingram, Georginna Reed, Helen Burns, Adele Varens and Diane Rivers and Oliver Hamilton as St John Rivers, John Reed, Mr Mason and William.

Kelsey Short is everything I imagined Jane Eyre to be, unassuming with an inner strength that when faced with heartache and adversity rises above it to fall in love despite difficult relationships throughout her life.

In spite of the suffering and punishment for other people’s actions in the red room, the harsh taunts from Mr Brocklehurst, director at Lowood Institution and an epidemic of typhus, Jane Eyre survives these hardships to become a governess to Alice Fairfax.

This production will certainly take you on an emotional journey as this brooding love story not only is romantic but frightening too as Bertha haunts the corridors and disrupts the wedding.

There is so much depth to this classic feminist heroine who develops into a teacher, turns down St John’s marriage proposal and is then drawn back to the charred remains of Thornfield to help pick up the pieces and help Mr Rochester back to health after losing his sight in a terrible accident.

This romantic classic of English Literature has been given a new lease of life with this emotionally charged production of Jane Eyre set to a very fitting score.

The human heart has hidden treasures, in secret kept; in silence sealed.

Jane Eyre is on stage at Malvern Theatres until Saturday September 28th. Tickets are on sale online at malvern-theatres.co.uk or call the Box Office on 01684 892277. 

Emma Trimble

24-09-19 

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