Jane Eyre: Capturing Hearts and Liberating Minds

 A bold retelling of one of the UK’s most celebrated novels, Jane Eyre, is being brought to the Tobacco Factory Theatre stage this summer.

The locally based community theatre company Kelvin Players will be staging Charlotte Bronte’s tale of repressed love and madness, using the dynamic adaptation by renowned theatre director, Polly Teale.

This version of the classic text presents a Jane who is struggling within the confinements of a Victorian society. A strong-willed child, Jane’s upbringing is harsh and lonely, and she frequently retreats into her imagination to escape the cruelties of her guardian Mrs Reed. Upon leaving school, a forthright Jane is sent to the manor of Thornfield to work as a governess to Mr Rochester’s young charge. The play then centres around the developing romantic relationship between Jane and the irascible Rochester.

However, after a series of startling incidents, Jane soon discovers Rochester’s dreadful secret: the mysterious woman locked in his attic is none other than his first wife, Bertha, whom he claims is mad. Jane cannot confront her feelings for her employer any longer, and leaves Thornfield – and the man she loves – behind.

Can Jane ever reconcile with Rochester? Or will she find the love and freedom she craves elsewhere?

Director, Simon Shorrock, explains why he chose this adaptation:

“The play presents an interesting twist in Jane’s relationship with Bertha, Rochester’s first wife, who is locked in his attic, hidden away. Right from the start Jane and Bertha are intertwined, physically at points. Bertha, despite her apparent madness, represents everything that Jane wants to be. She has a freedom of expression ill-afforded to a girl of her age in Victorian England.

There is a yin and yang relationship between them throughout the play, where we see Bertha physically responding to Jane’s emotional trials and tribulations. Bertha will be always visible on stage, in the ‘attic’.”

The Kelvin Players theatre company are delighted to be returning to the Tobacco Factory Theatre, after staging Howard Brenton’s Anne Boleyn there in 2018, and Moliere’s Tartuffe in 2015. The company has a tremendous reputation for the high quality of their period productions.

Jane Eyre by Polly Teale runs at the Tobacco Factory Theatre from Tuesday 28 June to Saturday 2 July 2022.

This innovative production of a well-loved story is sure to capture your heart this summer, and tickets, priced £16 and £12, are already on sale: https://www.kelvinplayers.co.uk/tickets-ttft