Nottingham Theatre Royal – until Saturday 12 April 2025
Reviewed by Louise Ford
5*****
Reader – I married him.
Northern Ballets’ 2025 season has a lovely mix of Classical favourites, Hansel and Gretel, Romeo and Juliet and the Christmas staple The Nutcracker (sadly only being performed in Leeds) and some new (certainly to me) offerings Merlin (in Autumn 2025) and Jane Eyre.
When I saw that Jane Eyre was being performed it did make me wonder how this could be done. The answer is, of course, incredibly well and sensitively.
I must confess that I only had a vague outline of the story of Jane Eyre, unlike my companion who had to “endure” it for A level. Thankfully the quality programme provided not only a list of characters, some wonderful photographs but, more importantly, a brief summary of the story and the scenes.
Cathy Marston created Jane Eyre for Northern Ballet nine years ago. The brief conversation in the programme with Cathy really helped to understand the thinking behind the production and the characters.
The tone and atmosphere is set from the beginning with pared back staging . The set design is by Patrick Kinmouth. Initially the stage is “cloaked” with a screen which evokes the Yorkshire landscape and the moors in particular. The screen lifts but the stage is on the whole black and unforgiving. The rooms and other scenes are created using painted curtains which evoke the brown and muted tones of the landscape. There are clever pockets of colour to denote the fireplaces and also hidden doors to create the illusion of being inside. In my view the “fire” scene is a masterpiece . It has real power and presence. With the lighting design by Alastair West.
Jane’s story is told in two parts. Firstly as a child, the young Jane is performed by Alessandra Bramante. The young Jane is an angry stubborn child who battles with her Aunt Reed (Helen Bogatch). In these scenes Jane’s anger and frustration is portrayed with tense and angular body movements, you really get a sense of her frustration and at times despair at her situation.
The adult Jane is portrayed by Amber Lewis. Jane’s transition to adulthood sees her anger soften and she becomes more graceful as she gains in confidence.
Jane’s story from an orphan raised by her Aunt, her move to Lowood Institute and finally as a governess at Thornfield is shaped and overshadowed by “men”. From her mean cousin John (Archie Sherman),to the cruel headmaster Reverend Brocklehurst (Harry Skoupas), to St John Rivers (George Liang) the “kindly” cleric, to Mr Rochester (Joseph Taylor). The D-men are a group of smartly dressed dancers who represent all of the “male” influences on Jane’s life which block her path or intimidate her. The D-men are danced by the ensemble. They twist, turn and block Jane’s progress through life.
The ensemble also portrays the orphans and the party guests. The orphanage scenes are particularly striking with simple props (stools, blankets and candles), portraying the drudgery and misery of life at Lowood School. At the party the guests’ costumes are more expensive in soft pastel colours, compared to Jane’s dowdy dress. The role of Blanche Ingram (Kaho Matsumoto) is particularly striking. The costume of Adele (Rachael Gillespie) enhances the spoilt child persona.
Whilst the production and the dancing was superb, the star of the show for me was the music and the orchestra. The music is atmospheric and perfectly compliments the dancing and really helps to create the different scenes. It is compiled and composed by Philip Freeney. The live Northern Ballet Orchestra was conducted by Daniel Parkinson. The Orchestra received a standing ovation from the audience and the Corps de Ballet. And rightly so, they were amazing.
I should also say that the Corps de Ballet also received a standing ovation. The audience really enjoyed the performance.
All in all this is Jane’s story and the final scene is of her alone on the stage. A fitting ending to an evening of incredible dancing and music.