Jane Eyre at Richmond Theatre

For some reason Richmond Theatre started promoting this event many months before it was on and so I bought my ticket, Dress Circle  Row A  Seat 22 Price £31.50, many months in advance.

By the time that the show came around I had, as I often do, forgotten precisely why I had booked it. Obviously Jane Eyre is a classic story so that helped. I had forgotten which classic story it was until about half way through but that did not matter, it was still a classic. I went to the theatre thinking it was a ballet, and understandable error given that Northern Ballet were touring their version of Jane Eyre around that time.

It turned out that this was a National Theatre production that had been on at NT and was then being toured prior to a return to NT. That explains why I booked it.

The staging was the defining feature of this production. The stage was arranged like an assault course with the various levels, ladders and walkways becoming rooms, corridors and paths as required. All that was needed was a little imagination and some good acting.

And the acting was another strength of the production. It was an ensemble production with some of the actors playing multiple roles. One was even a dog at times and a very lovable dog he was too. There were constant looks, gestures and movements that filled the stage and enriched the story.

The final string in the bow was the music (did you see what I did there?). You can see some musical instruments at the back of the stage. This was far from a musical but the incidental music and the odd song certainly helped to make the production entertaining.

With all those strong supports in place the drama of Jane Eyre's story was able to flourish in a thoroughly entertaining way.