I never really came to terms with Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre at school.  I wasn't remotely interested in the internal struggle of the main character. I would probably have been much more intrigued by Rochester's early life, misdeeds and travels, spiced as they are implied to be with a heady mix of West Indian romance and the seamy side of Parisian life.

However, when the concept of a musical version was presented to me as a possible vehicle for the society I re-read it with new interest and quickly became engrossed in the Gothic tale of the 'Byronic Hero' (Rochester) and the 'Mad Woman in the Attic' (Bertha). I was also more able to appreciate the mid 19th Century balancing act which Jane undertakes in terms of her morality, religion, social class and gender and found the simmering passion beneath her austere facade fascinating as she fights to maintain control of her emotions.

Staging this version by John Caird and Paul Gordon was never going to be easy, shifting swiftly as it does in time and place - often in the space of a few lines of dialogue or bars of music. It soon became clear that a conventional dramatic setting would not work and that the overall look of the piece should use the tale’s darkest aspects to create the atmosphere against which the swiftly changing action is set. With no conventional chorus numbers and a form which is more operatic than musical, actors are required to adopt several roles, often in the space of only a few minutes and such scenic devices as there are must move seamlessly within the context of the action. This is definitely a piece which takes a cast out of their comfort zone.

Clive Walker