Jane Eyre at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre

The concept of squeezing what were two separate plays (as performed originally at the Bristol Old Vic) into one long performance was probably too much to ask. So contrary to the overwhelming critical acclaim, I thought there was much to enjoy but in the end the flaws made this a disappointing evening.

The main mistake, for me, was that the language was either taken straight from Charlotte Bronte's novel, or replicated the language. That must have been why the cast struggled in projecting something that was not too melodramatic. Whilst I liked the movement (this is a very physical production - the constant use of the ramp and ladders up to the timber platform (as photo above) was great to start with but became too repetitive) we only had very few quiet pieces and these lacked the emotion I expected.

I was surprised we had nearly an hour of Jane's childhood, although her transition into being an adult was the highlight of the evening. So it's difficult to be critical of the acting given the dialogue. The inexperienced Nadia Clifford as Jane was possibly not the greatest piece of casting for the lead role. Tim Delap as Rochester did his best. The roles of Bertha (and others) was taken by understudy Dami Olukoya. She was terrific, but then again her songs were modern and showed up the old fashioned text of the play.

Yes, we had music. In fact the three excellent musicians were placed at the back of the stage and were integral to the action. Again, the use of background music would have worked very well if at times it hadn't detracted from the intensity of the dialogue.

Sally Cookson, the Director, has to be congratulated for coming up with a fresh and lively take on a well known classic. There are certain similarities with how she staged Peter Pan that we saw at the National Theatre, and perhaps that style suited that play more. And in both an actor played the dog.

She says in her programme notes that on that first day of rehearsal , there was no script, just a rough structure in place with Mike Akers (dramaturg, whatever that is). Unfortunately, for me, it showed.