Review: Jane Eyre continues at the Guildhall Theatre, Derby until tonight

>A touching tale of romance,mystery and gothic horror, this adaptation of Jane Eyre was more than

admirable, writes Kelly Tyler.

The Hull Truck Theatre's

production, adapted by Laura Turner, was a noble example of how the classic

nineteenth century novel can be expressed on stage without obliterating

Charlotte Bronte's work so familiar to many.

The story tells the tale of

Jane who works as a teacher at Lowood before applying to become a governess at

Thornfield Hall where she tutors a young French girl called Adele.

While at the grand house,

mysterious things begin to happen including a blazing fire which almost kills

the owner Edward Rochester. Jane finds herself fearing yet falling for this

man, who is found to have kept his mad wife in the attic of the home. On the

discovery of this news, Jane who is at this point set to marry Mr Rochester,

flees only to return later and they eventually marry. But the plot is much thicker

than that.

Although at first rather

hesitant at the idea, I felt the cast, made up of only three people, worked

extremely well.

The audience yearns for Jane

Eyre, played by Rebecca Hutchinson, to better her life and explore the world,

express her undying love for Mr Rochester as well as discover what the eerie

sounds coming from the attic really are. These elements were passionately and

powerfully displayed by Hutchinson and left the audience wanting more.

The tense relationship

between Jane and Mr Rochester, boldy played by Andrew Dowbiggin, picked up

speed and developed in the second half of the play where the feeling of love,

fear and heartache really exemplified. Although the scene which

presented the discovery of the crazy wife, Bertha Mason, in the attic was

short, it had the audience on tender-hooks, with people even raising themselves

from their seats to take a good look at the mad character lying on the floor.

This was very gripping and was fantastically played by Viktoria Kay.

The production was a great

success filled with powerful, believable and shining performances from each of

the characters throughout. Whether a fan of Bronte's poignant tale or not, this

is a production not to be missed.