After Mrs Rochester

This show has now closed, click here for a listing of current and future London shows

Play Opened 22 July 2003, Closed 25 October 2003

Duke of York's Theatre St Martin's Lane, London

Following a successful tour, After Mrs Rochester comes to the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End.

Jean Rhys's inspired prequel to Jane Eyre Wide Sargasso Sea, gave Mrs Rochester - the madwoman in the attic - her own remarkable story.

But Jean's own life was just as extraordinary.

After Mrs Rochester tells Jean's compelling story and reveals how her obsession with Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre became the catalyst for "one of the works of genius of the 20th century" (The Times).

Born in Dominica in the West Indies, the daughter of a white Creole mother, Jean Rhys was sent to England when she was sixteen. Following a series of demi-monde jobs she settled in Paris and with the encouragement of Ford Maddox Ford, began to write. Rhys published several novels and short stories between 1927 and 1939 during which time she returned to England. For the next twenty five years she disappeared from public view until Wide Sargasso Sea, widely acknowledged as one of the works of genius of the twentieth century, was published in 1966.

Diana Quick joins Shared Experience Theatre Company, to take the role of Jean, following her award-winning performance on stage last year in the English Touring Theatre's production of Ibsen's Ghosts. Shared Experience is acclaimed the world over for its powerful, visually stunning productions including A Passage to India, The Clearing, Mill on the Floss and Polly Teale's own deeply affecting adaptation Jane Eyre.

Diana Quick and Madeleine Potter play the old and young Jean Rhys respectively and the cast also includes David Annen, Sarah Ball, Syan Blake, Hattie Ladbury, Amy Marston and Simon Thorp.

After Mrs Rochester is written and directed by Polly Teale, designed by Angela Davies with lighting by Chris Davey and music by Howard Davidson. The movement director is Leah Hausman.

"Total theatre. An outstanding production" The Mail on Sunday

"Magic, combustibe, hugely affecting" The Guardian

"Ensemble playing of the highest order... an evocative pleasure" Time Out

"Shared Experience at its best... sterling performances all round... a major success" The Sunday Telegraph

"Shared Experience is one of the most distinctive theatre companies in the land. Those who have seen the company are unlikely to forget its thrilling productions" The Daily Telegraph