"After Mrs Rochester" extends to 1 Nov 03

"After Mrs Rochester" extends to 1 Nov 03

Shared Experience's After Mrs Rochester, written and directed by Polly Teale, has been extended by 6 weeks to 1 Nov 03 at the Duke of York's Theatre. (The show was originally booking to 13 Sep 03)

The play opened to good notices from the popular press last month: IAN JOHNS for the TIMES says, "an absorbing piece of storytelling and a poignant, poetic pleasure." RACHEL HALLIBURTON for THE EVENING STANDARD says, "Bold and expressionistic exploration...a tale of sound and fury." MADDY COSTA for THE GUARDIAN says, " Rhys's life is fascinating, but the trouble with Teale's presentation of it is that the style takes over." CHARLES SPENCER for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says, "marvellously imaginative and empathetic play."

It is the story of Jean Rhys, author of "Wide Sargasso Sea".

Diana Quick plays Jean Rhys, and the cast also includes Madeleine Potter as the younger Jean, David Annen, Sarah Ball, Syan Blake, Hattie Ladbury, Amy Marston and Simon Thorp.

It is produced by Ambassador Theatre Group & Maidstone Productions, designed by Angela Davies with lighting by Chris Davey.

After Mrs Rochester explores Jean Rhys' character through her life, her work and her obsession with Charlotte Bronte's first Mrs Rochester in Jane Eyre.

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.