Windsor Theatre Royal – until 19th September 2026
Reviewed by Andrew and Kate Lawrence
4****
We had arranged to go and see the performance of ‘Jane Eyre’ at the Windsor Royal Theatre last night, and since our son was heading back to Uni later this week, we decided to bring him along too. Early in the afternoon, though, I did wonder whether it would really be his kind of ‘thing’ — perhaps a little more cultured or literary than he might usually go for. I have to admit that since I hadn’t read the book either, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect! Suffice to say, I needn’t have worried.
The play takes Charlotte Bronte’s book “Jane Eyre”, adapted for the stage by Nick Young and Ross Muir (the latter also appearing in the play), using just a simple stage set and the five remarkable actors, playing the parts of 14 characters from the book.
The book, as I understand from Wikipedia (other online encyclopaedias are available), tells the story of Jane Eyre, and her life experiences from an abused orphaned child up until her marriage to Mr Rochester. It’s quite a long book, but the play sufficiently summarises the story to remain meaningful whilst avoiding being laborious (I have seen some plays which I can only describe as an endurance rather than an enjoyment).
Whilst the scenery is rather simple, the costumes on the other hand are sublime. It did take me a few minutes to get accustomed to the use of 19th century language and prose, which the actors deliver so naturally, interspersed with an occasional musical interlude performed by the same actors equipped with guitar, cello and an accordion. These little dittys throughout the play only add to the 19th century feel of the performance making it so much more genuine. At least that’s what I assume a mid-19th century play was like?
Evie Depledge plays the part of Jane Eyre from start to finish, Ross Muir plays the part of Edward Rochester, but he also adapted the play (with Nick), produced it and wrote the music. And the remaining three, Janna Fox, Erin Maria Walther and Edward Smith perform the remaining 12 characters. They all sang beautifully and most of them played the instruments too.
I have no idea if the play respects the original story, I’m no scholar of that particular book, but if the book portrayed the story of an orphaned and abused young girl and her life experiences up to and including her marriage to the love of her life, flowered with the occasional laugh-out-loud joke and entertaining little musical interludes – then it does a great job of that. And if it doesn’t, well it’s still pretty good entertainment all the same.
My son enjoyed, we enjoyed it, and ultimately, that’s all that matters really.
The play finishes in Windsor on the 19th September so there’s still time to immerse yourself in this great classic.