The madwoman in the attic with heath-whipped hair

A student newspaper, The Pitt News, reviews the recent Quantum Theatre production of Polly Teale's After Mrs. Rochester, that we have presented before. The reviewer, Rimma Hussain, is really happy with the performances:

Quantum's production of Polly Teale's "After Mrs. Rochester" is, at its intricate core, a psychological study of a fascinatingly complex woman, Jean Rhys, the mid-1900s author of "Wide Sargasso Sea."

The play chronicles Rhys' (Karla Boos) life through a sort of visual memory-portal where Rhys looks back at her younger self, Ella (Mikelle Johnson) and the madwoman in the attic (Robin Walsh), who is simultaneously Bertha from Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" and the "creature" of Rhys' psyche.

A necessary biographical back-story: As a young woman, Rhys related to the mad character Bertha from "Jane Eyre" and eventually published the highly successful "Wide Sargasso Sea." The novel told the story of Bertha before her husband, Mr. Rochester, locked her up in the attic. Hence the title "After Mrs. Rochester."

What makes the play both avant-garde and a tad bit muddled, then, is the dramatic superimposition of "Jane Eyre" with the biography of Rhys. Viewers who are unfamiliar with the back-story that drives much of the play might, no pun intended, go a little mad as Jane Eyre (Dana Hardy) and Mr. Rochester (Hugo Armstrong) appear on stage intermittently. (...)

The staging is visually intense with the three women --- Rhys, Ella and Bertha --- always present on stage in full character. It's a smart tactic, one that mirrors the psychological state of a writer who is constantly deluged with overbearing thoughts, feelings, images and words. (...)

Johnson and Boos both give an outstanding and compelling performance as Rhys, with all of her psychology and grief. And Walsh is a terribly realistic madwoman, even mastering acrobatics when she does stunts like hang upside down from the attic.

The fashion madness about Wuthering Heights resurfaces again in this chronicle of the New Zealand Fashion Week (where recently a fashion designer presented a collection 'inspired' by Wuthering Heights):

Obi, the first show of Air New Zealand Fashion Week, provided a glimpse into an ethereal world populated by Wuthering Heights waifs with heath-whipped hair and gorgeous Victorian Japonoiserie-inspired garments.

Categories: Theatre, In_the_News, Wide_Sargasso_Sea, Wuthering_Heights