ACT Reviews 2022-2023 Season

The dances also added to the length of the play, but I thought all of these fitted well into the plot and into bringing Jane's inner world to life and, as a lover of dance, for me they were a joy to behold. Zoë Taylor's dancers (Catherine Curran, Darcey Finney, Georgia Gooden, Lacey Raynor, Danielle Studley and Natasha Turner) were wonderfully talented and they worked very effectively as an ensemble. There were also some lovely actors among them – I was particularly taken by the facial expression of the younger dancer who was told she would have her red curly hair cut off! I thought their addition to the production was innovative and gave another dimension to the story. From my conversation with Clive I know this was his choice, as well as the choice to have Bertha Mason ("the mad woman in the attic") on stage throughout a large portion of the production; even when the curtain was up hiding the room there was always the sense that she was still there, hopelessly locked away from the world and the freedom and passions we are told by Rochester she so relished when a single woman. The occasions when she suddenly appeared through the curtain, either as a silhouette or an imprint, gave me goosebumps – ghostly, tragic and yet somehow powerful – still reaching out to the world, refusing to lose hope that someday she would be able to connect again to the outside. Huge recognition needs to be given to Heather

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