"After Mrs Rochester" is based on the life of the novelist Jean Rhys, best known for her 1966 novel Wide Sargasso Sea. The novel is the prequel to Jane Eyre and tells the story of the earlier life of Mr Rochester's wife Bertha Mason, the "mad woman in the attic".
             The play begins with the older Jean isolated in her room in Devon. Jean, in her confusion, is emotionally unable to open her door for her daughter who is visiting her. There are similarities between Mrs Rochester and the author, Jean Rhys, and there remains a close relationship between them as the character, Mrs Rochester lives in Jean's mind and therefore appears to be in the room with Jean throughout the play. Mrs Rochester, played by Sarah Ball, walks around the room, sometimes silent and mumbling or chanting and expressing feelings of anger and sadness with sudden outbursts, using strong effective body language to emphasise her emotional grief, which then plays in the back of Jean's head. Diana Quick is wonderful and produces a realistic performance of the older Jean. She creates a convincing role of being a self-destructive alcoholic reliving events of tragedies of her life by showing emotional distraught and confusion through body movement. Diana uses shaky body movements like with her hands to show instability.
             Jean is later joined by her younger self (when she was called Ella), played by Emily Bruni. Emily is amazing in playing Ella; she has a beautifully strong voice and nicely plays the character's capture between the spirited black people and her mother's ideals of appropriate behavior.
             All actors produce sound roles and express themselves both with movement and vocally to create a firm character. It consisted of an amazing cast.
             The audience learns how dramatic the life of Jean Rhys was and so produces a theatrical performance which fulfils the full-length that which it was written for whilst sustaining its powerful appearance and va
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