Jane Eyre
Gaiety Theatre
October 5th-9th, 8 p.m.; matinee, October 9th, 3 p.m.
This adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's text comes from Shared Experience, the British company whose inventively physical approach to literary adaptation has been acclaimed over the past 25 years. Here director and adaptor, Polly Teale, and movement director, Liz Ranken, emphasise the psychological aspects of the novel, the way that everything in this first-person narrative is filtered through Jane Eyre's heightened consciousness. "I have come to see the novel as a quest, a passionate inquiry. How is it possible for Jane as a woman to be true to herself in the world in which she lives?" Teale says. "I tried to get access to that inner world, to Jane's deepest thoughts and feelings." In this production, the madwoman in the attic, Rochester's wife Bertha, is presented as Jane's sensual, emotional alter ego, and the play opens with them playing together and reading about the West Indies, where Bertha was born. If it's anything like the company's beautifully distilled, superbly expressionist adaptation of Mill On The Floss, we're in for a treat.
Peter & Wendy
Tivoli Theatre
October 6th-9th, 8 p.m.
More exploration of the darker corners of the pysche from the innovative New York ensemble, Mabou Mines. It's an adaptation of J.M. Barrie's 1911 novel (written seven years after Peter Pan, the play) which reflects on what is lost if we bury our childhood. Combining performers and puppetry - including Japanese bunraku puppets - animated by the voice of Karen Kandel, with pop-up-book sets and a score by the Scottish figure Johnny Cunningham, this is an awardwinning, critically lauded production.
Cloudstreet
SFX City Theatre
October 8th, 12th and 13th, 5.30 p.m.; October 9th and 10th, 4.30 p.m.
Tim Winton's tale of 30 years in No. 1, Cloudstreet, was quickly hailed as an Australian classic, and perhaps the most adventurous literary attempt to sum up the modern Australian experience, when it was published eight years ago. Company B Belvoir have staged the novel in an adaptation which lasts over five hours, but which hasn't managed to weary many critics. (See feature, page 1)
Arabian Nights
Olympia Theatre
October 12th-16th, 8 p.m.; matinee, October 16th, 3 p.m.
The tales of Ali Baba and Sinbad that we all half-remember are spun by Queen Sheherazade to postpone the moment of her death. Can her storytelling powers melt the embittered heart of King Shahrajar? A hit at the Edinburgh Festival this year, this gorgeously designed ensemble adaptation is staged with charm and flair by the Young Vic Theatre Company. For adults and children over eight.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Samuel Beckett Centre
September 28th-October 2nd, 8 p.m.
Jocelyn Clarke (Sunday Tribune Theatre Critic) adapted Lewis Carroll's endlessly fascinating, clever and teasing work for Sligo's Blue Raincoat Theatre earlier this year. Alice's adventures and encounters are presented on stage through Carroll's eyes.
Night Just Before the Forest
Samuel Beckett Centre
October 10th-13th, 8 p.m.
Bedrock, the company who founded the Fringe, bring its production of Bernard-Marie Koltes's Night Just Before the Forest to the event. It's refreshing - and all too rare - to get a chance to see a new play from France, or anywhere else, for that matter.
Brechtfest (Fringe)
Bank of Ireland Arts Centre
October 11th-16th, 8 p.m.
Louise Lowe has adapted a selection of Brecht's poems from 1913-1956 in a celebration of the centenary of his birth. Film and video footage is combined with movement and dramatised episodes to trace his artistic and personal journey.
