In the Clifford Room

Butterfly Psyche Theatre & Livewire Theatre present: The Brontë Season

Whether you’re a hard-core Brontë fan or if you’ve never had the pleasure, these fresh new adaptations by West Country theatre companies Butterfly Psyche Theatre & Livewire Theatre will invigorate, inspire and melt hearts around the South West this autumn.

Performed in rep, with only one and two actors, there’s a chance to mix-and-match an old favourite along with a new acquaintance, as well as the chance to see all three. The Brontë Season is made up of:

Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë
Adapted by: Dougie Blaxland
Directed by: Jazz Hazelwood
Starring: Alison Campbell

Charlotte Brontë’s  Jane Eyre, the Gothic story of a penniless young governess, met with immediate success when first published. The eponymous Jane takes up service in creepy Thornfield Hall and soon finds herself  at the centre of a haunted cover-up-conspiracy with the dashing-yet-devilish, Mr Rochester. Will they live happily ever after? Will their worlds come crashing down around them? It’s a Brontë, so be prepared for both!

This adaptation originally toured with Livewire Theatre in autumn 2013 and received 5-Star reviews across the board.

Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë
Adapted by: Dougie Blaxland
Directed by: Jazz Hazelwood
Starring: Alison Campbell and Jeremy Fowlds

Emily Brontë’s emotionally gripping Wuthering Heights is, without a doubt, one of the most tragic and infamous love stories ever told. As the most introverted and reclusive of the sisters, Emily’s personality remains a mystery. But as they say, ‘still waters run deep’ and even if you’ve never read a word of the Brontës in your life, you will have at least heard of Heathcliff and Cathy and their passionate-yet-destructive love that transcended even death. This production will leave you covered in Goosebumps and reaching for the nearest copy. 

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
by Anne Brontë
Adapted by: Alison Farina
Directed by: Shane Morgan
Starring: Madelaine Ryan and Tom Turner

Anne Brontë, the least well-known (and vastly under-appreciated) of the sisters wrote the most shocking of all the Bronte novels put together, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.  Telling the story of Helen Graham, a reclusive artist who has mysteriously taken up residence at the dilapidated Wildfell Hall, Anne’s multi-layered masterpiece aims to show both the brutality and consequences of life choices along with hope and happiness through redemption, forgiveness and truth. When The Tenant was first published it sold out within 6 weeks (vastly outselling Wuthering Heights  and selling even better in the US than the UK, something that cannot be said of the other two sisters) and is widely considered to be the first ‘sustained’ feminist novel. However, Charlotte Brontë, for reasons best known to herself, succeeded in widely denouncing the book and suppressing a reprint after Anne’s death. Was she doing it to “protect” her “sister’s reputation”, or her own?

Thurs 30th Oct: Jane Eyre
Friday 31st Oct: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Sat 1st Nov: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall / Wuthering Heights

Part of the exetreme festival

Tickets: £12.00 (£10.00 concessions)

Box office: 01392 271808

www.barnfieldtheatre.org.uk