Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer

Nadean Rawlins (left) and Maylynne Walton in 'After Mrs. Rochester'. - Contributed

After Mrs. Rochester, currently playing at the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts, University of the West Indies, is an intriguing production that is rich in artistic talent, creativity and meaning. Written by Polly Teale, the play is being staged by the University Players under Brian Heap's direction, and ends this weekend.

Heap is wonderfully true to capturing Teale's vision of novelist Jean Rhys. He brings to the stage a play that is well-paced with energy and vitality and is sometimes riveting, except for those moments when you simply want to turn away because the loud desperation is too much to bear, as Rhys' madwoman in the attic writhes on the floor.

Intense

The play is largely an exploration of the relationship between Rhys and Bertha Rochester, the madwoman in the attic of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, whom Rhys would later rescue from the shadows and mad laughter, rename and return to her rightful status as a full woman in Wide Sargasso Sea.

The play is unrelenting in its intensity. Heap has a great cast to use as the canvas to bring this fantastic story to life and he uses them well. They included Hilary Nicholson as the middle-aged Jean, Maylynne Walton as Ella (the young Jean Rhys before her name change), Nadia Khan as Bertha, and Nadean Rawlins (Tite and Meta).

All actors, with the exception of Walton and Khan, play multiple roles. Even this interchanging of the characters plays beautifully into the translation of meaning, as the play depicts the interchange between the various forces driving Rhys in her real life and those that are driving her fiction.

The cast also features Veronica Salter, Karl Williams, Noelle Kerr, Carla Moore, Jean-Paul Menou and Rooney Chambers.

Teale weaves into her dramatisation excerpts from Jane Eyre and places Rhys' words from her various novels, including Voyage in the Dark and After Mr. McKenzie, into Ella's dialogue. Additionally, the play presents Bertha as a constant presence in Rhys' life, and also allows the older Jean, Ella and Bertha to converse and together all three are able to give a distinct, well-nuanced image of Rhys.

Full bloom

Walton appears to have hit full bloom as an actress, as she wonderfully depicts Ella's move from childhood abandon to agitated, desperate womanhood in her wanton and seemingly futile search for happiness. Nicholson gives a consistent delivery and makes a good, solid presence between the extremities presented by Bertha and Ella.

Yet, it is Khan's portrayal of madness that is truly a sight to behold. She remains a writhing mass of clothes and hair for most of the production, with her face completely hidden by her wild mane. It is only until Rhys begins to write Bertha/Antoinette's story that she is brought into full humanity.