NORTHERN BALLET’S JANE EYRE REVIEW
THURSDAY 24TH APRIL 2025 @ 2.00PM
SHEFFIELD LYCEUM THEATRE
**** 4/5
There’s something so magical at spending a night (or an afternoon in my case) at the ballet. Whether it’s an all-time classic or a newer adaptation, ballet was my one true love. That’s why when I saw one of my favourite ballet companies was touring a classic literature-based ballet. Here’s my Northern Ballet’s Jane Eyre review.
PRE-SHOW THOUGHTS
I hate to sound like an uneducated individual (which I am not) but I’ve never read Jane Eyre. In fact, I was glad that the programme had a synopsis of the story because I had very little knowledge, other than it’s by Charlotte Bronte. However, I was mostly intrigued at how it’s possible to change a piece of literature into a ballet. If any ballet company can make it into something spectacular, it’s Northern Ballet!
THE CAST
Our lead heroine for the show was Saeka Shirai and my god, she is out of this world. I would go as far as saying that she might be the most effortless ballerina I’ve ever seen. Her acting as Jane Eyre was subtle but totally believable. However, it was her technique that drew me in. To me, a prima should just glide across the stage and Shirai does this throughout. It’s a demanding role as it’s got a lot of stage time but she doesn’t let up once.
Aerys Merrill is our first Jane of the night though as she portrays the younger version of her as an orphan. Again, Merrill is a powerhouse of a performer. I was mostly impressed by her ability to balance flexibility and strength. It was a great portrayal of a teenager and she’s a great actress as well.
Harris Beattie as Mr Rochester was another standout. You really do get a sense of a broken man as the show goes on. At first, he’s arrogant but the love story between him and Jane is beautiful as it unfolds. He is the perfect partner for Shirai but also shines on his own. Again, he exudes elegance and grace throughout yet is powerful too.
One of the smaller roles but arguably one of the most powerful is Kaho Masumoto as Helen Burns. I wish her role was bigger because her partnership with Merrill was simply beautiful. Their pas de deux was different for a ballet but they both allowed the other to shine.
I think one of my favourite characters was Bertha, played by Gemma Coutts. Her role was full of acting and her movement was a little more contemporary than the rest. I particularly enjoyed her angst for the role and again, she had such power. I love this rise of ballerinas from being dainty to strong!
THE PRODUCTION
Everything about this production was high quality. A live ballet always works best with a live orchestra. Led by Lauren Wasynczuk, I’m always super excited to see a female conductor! Having never heard the score before, it was incredibly varied with plenty of dramatic pieces along with softer, lighter moments.
One of my highlights was the set design. Often with a ballet, the set is almost secondary and done on a budget. There was lots of use of an opaque scrim at the front of the stage along with multiple screens pulled by the dancers as others waited behind them. I thought this was particularly clever so you didn’t just see dancers running on and off the stage.
Ballet costuming are always my favourite and Jane Eyre was less classic, there wasn’t a tutu in sight. Instead, it was longer gowns which flowed and created shapes on stage. Again, it was a mixture of designs from muted tones for the orphans to satin and pastels for the society women and rich, jewel tones for the high society men.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The only reason I gave the production four stars is because I found parts of the story a little tricky to understand. Maybe that’s because I’ve never read the book and whilst overall I could follow along, a few scenes were a little confusing.
However, that takes nothing away from this incredible cast of dancers, the wonderful orchestra and the outstanding set design. Everything about this production is top-drawer and the choreography by Cathy Marston was so interesting. I wouldn’t call all of it mainstream classical ballet but it’s a more modern take on it instead.
If you enjoyed this blog of Northern Ballet’s Jane Eyre review, you can find all of Northern Ballet’s tour dates here. You can look at my other theatre reviews here too. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok too.
