Ballet version of Jane Eyre coming to the Waterside

Cathy Marston, choreographer for Northern Ballet's production of Jane Eyre which is coming to the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury in June 2016. Photo by Isak Hoffmeyer

The adaptation is being overseen by Northern Ballet and choreographed by international dance maker Cathy Marston.

The ballet will première during the 200th anniversary year of the author Charlotte Brontë’s birth.

The world première of the show takes place in Doncaster in May 2016 and after a visit to London the ballet then comes to Aylesbury for two performances on June 3 and 4 2016.

Jane Eyre tells the story of a child orphaned at a young age and cruelly treated by her Aunt.

The main character is sent away to a charitable school and accepts a position as a Governess at Thornfield, a gentleman’s manor whose master is the dark and impassioned Mr Rochester.

In spite of their social differences, an unlikely bond grows between the pair but as their romance develops, it becomes clear that Mr Rochester has a hidden past that threatens to ruin them both.

Jane Eyre will be Cathy Marston’s second full-length production for Northern Ballet following her creation of the Dickens classic A Tale of Two Cities for the company in 2008.

Composer Philip Feeney will compile and arrange a score for Jane Eyre made up of original compositions and existing work.

Mr Feeney’s connections with Northern Ballet stretch back more than 25 years and his credits include Cinderella and Dracula.

Patrick Kinmonth, who has designed more than 20 theatrical productions will oversee sets and costumes while Alastair West who has worked on productions including A Christmas Carol for the Northern Ballet will design the lighting.

Ms Marston said: “Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre was a novel far ahead of its time and when I think of Jane Eyre I feel inspired by images of her passionate but ‘impossible’ relationship with Mr Rochester, the fire and emotional destruction symbolised by Bertha Mason - the infamous ‘woman in the attic’, the contrasting icy moorland through which she seems to run from one chapter of her life to another, and of course her final reunion with Rochester.

“But these images only touch the surface of a character and a book that continue to provoke and move - generation after generation, re-read after re-read.

Northern Ballet’s artistic director David Nixon OBE said: “Cathy is a huge talent and one of the leading choreographers of the moment so I am delighted that she will be returning to work with Northern Ballet once more.

“Having already adapted Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights it seems appropriate that Northern Ballet should also immortalise her sister’s Jane Eyre through dance and doing so in the bicentennial anniversary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth makes it all the more special.”