Wednesday 12 – Saturday 15 December 2007

After Mrs Rochester

By Polly Teale
Directed by Jacqui Somerville

Jean Rhys was fascinated with Jane Eyre - and more particularly with Bertha Mason, the first Mrs Rochester and the 'madwoman in the attic'. Placing Bertha on stage throughout as Jean's alter ego, Polly Teale's remarkable dramatization of Rhys's life gives full vent to this obsession - which was to prove the catalyst for Wide Sargasso Sea, one of the works of genius of the 20th century' - The Times

The play was first staged by Shared experience Theatre Company at the Royal Theatre, Northampton in March 2003.

Cast

Jonathan Benjamin - Lancelot/Rochester
Sarah Adams - Bertha
Nikky Norton - Tite/Meta
Hazel Ann Crawford - Mother/Stella
Sophia Hatfield - Ella
Kayleigh Lawrence - Daughter/Jane Eyre
Felicity Goodman - Jean
Richard Hand - Gent/Ford Maddox