Jane Eyre [Northern Ballet] – Review – Sheffield Lyceum Theatre

By Clare Jenkins, April 2025

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte’s arguably finest novel, adds up to nearly 200,000 words. Northern Ballet’s adaptation (first staged to much acclaim in 2016) distils it into two hours. Two hours of mesmerising movement, absorbing music and virtuoso voiceless storytelling. The odd scene may be lost – Rochester’s accident with his horse, for instance, when he literally falls at Jane’s feet – but none of the emotional resonance.

The ballet begins almost at the end of the book, when upright clergyman St John Rivers (George Liang) discovers a bedraggled Jane unconscious on the bleak, wild moors. Ironically (or not), there’s more than a hint of Wuthering Heights about Patrick Kinmouth’s pared-back set, with its bracken-brown and sky-grey plaid colours, gauzy curtain and muted costumes.

Cathy Marston’s choreography is impeccable, evoking the narrative with light brush strokes as well as bigger, bolder movements. Every move and gesture let the story unfold as Jane journeys from rejected orphan through miserable schooling to her arrival at Thornfield Hall as governess to Mr Rochester’s ward Adele (engagingly performed by Rachael Gillespie), and her subsequent relationship with her employer.

“Perfect match”

At certain key points, our heroine is surrounded by a corps de ballet of male dancers representing both her inner demons and the men who’ve tried to crush her throughout her life. Amber Lewis’s Jane is wonderfully fluent and expressive. When Helen – the one friend she makes at Lowood School – dies (a beautifully sensitive performance by Sena Kitano), you feel her sorrow. As a new young teacher, her face lights up as she watches her pupils. And when Rochester taunts her by dancing with the wealthy Blanche (Kaho Masumoto), she smiles bravely throughout.

At other points, she rages rebelliously against injustice and unkindness. You’re never in any doubt about her strength even when she’s at her most put-upon, bullied by her cousins, sent away to the harsh Lowood School, growing in maturity from downtrodden girl to independently-minded young woman sure of her own inner worth and of her equal status to her employer.

As Rochester, Miguel Teixeira is a perfect match: initially arrogant, brooding and impatient, always restless, ultimately vulnerable. Their relationship is electric, their longing and love for each other played out with barely concealed passion. Their final tender pas de deux is very moving. After the house fire that has blinded him, the eyes that have constantly looked into Jane’s are now sightless, his once penetrating gaze now empty.

“Masterfully done”

Throughout, the dancing is flawless. And there’s minute attention to detail – Blanche’s disdainful little giggles and kicks aimed at Jane, Jane’s own more playful kick at Mr Rochester, his sharply outstretched leg acting as the bar of a cage, the vulnerable cupping of a head. But there’s also a great sweeping and soaring of bodies, limbs both superhumanly agile and constantly graceful.

In other roles, Harriet Marden is a comical, kindly housekeeper, all fussy, bustling, jigging gestures and footsteps. Helen Bogatch’s wild-haired Bertha, ‘the madwoman in the attic’ (and Rochester’s secret wife), is a whirling dervish in a ragged fire-red dress, kicking, scratching and leering as she attacks her captor husband. The scene where she torches the hall is masterfully done – searing orange light, thick smoke and frenzied shadow dancing (a reprise of the earlier scene where she set fire to Rochester’s bed).

An extra delight is the presence of the Northern Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Daniel Parkinson and playing music by Philip Feeney that reflects every mood. All told, this is dance drama at its finest, both powerful and affecting.

Northern Ballet’s ‘Jane Eyre’ is at the Sheffield Lyceum until Saturday
images: Emma Kauldhar

Clare Jenkins( Writer )

Clare’s dream is to live in a hotel suite, safe from the bother of boiler breakdowns and crashing computers. In fact, thanks to her husband Stephen McClarence’s work as a national newspaper travel writer, she’s been lucky enough to stay at hotels and eaten in restaurants across the UK and abroad – and has loved (nearly) every minute. As a journalist herself, she’s made hundreds of features and documentaries for Radio 4, including interviews with many actors and writers. She’s also a former theatre reviewer for The Stage magazine, and co-author of Teatime at Peggy’s: A Glimpse of Anglo-India.
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