ANNE Bronte's turbulent Yorkshire work The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall topped the list when playwright Deborah McAndrew and director Elizabeth Newman discussed options for a stage adaptation of a classic novel.

"I've always been a huge fan of Anne's writing, when the other two sisters [Charlotte and Emily] get all the attention, but 'Tenant' is a great story of a woman who's so mysterious and fascinating," says Deborah, whose new commission for the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, and York Theatre Royal is being presented in York until May 6 under the direction of Newman, the Octagon's artistic director.

"To my knowledge, there's only been one adaptation, by Lisa Evans, which I wasn't familiar with and didn't look at, but I knew the story would make a good piece of theatre, with a woman at the centre who's breaking all the rules, which wasn't acceptable to society. That really drew me to writing the adaptation."

Bronte's story is set in 19th century Yorkshire, where widow Helen Graham and her son arrive at the desolate estate of Wildfell Hall, soon becoming the subject of village gossip and speculation. Intrigued by this enigmatic young woman, farmer Gilbert Markham gradually falls in love, but what is the shocking past that Helen has left behind?

"There are great characters, but it was the politics of the book that attracted me: Anne was angry about women's position in society and the injustice of that," says Deborah.

"Helen Graham is a woman with no rights, who becomes the property of a man who's unworthy in every respect, and so it it's a story full of rage against the injustices of that time."

Deborah's adaptation obeys what she calls the first rule of drama: "Show, don't tell," she says. "There'll be no 'first person narrating' direct to the audience. The novel has a great sweep to it, so I've structured it to turn it into a play, rather than just replicating the book."

Her play forms part of the Theatre Royal's female-focused Of Woman Born season. "It's one of those things where, in some ways, you wish you could put on a season of women's plays without mentioning it, as you'd never put on a season of men's plays and mention it because that happens all the time, but with women's plays, that's not the case," says Deborah.

"What would be great would be to get to the point where you don't need to draw attention to it. For women to be playwrights in any kind of number, opportunity is the key, so it's good that a season of women's work is being done, but it would be better if we were all just writers, not divided into men and women."

The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall runs at York Theatre Royal until May 6 at 7.30pm nightly plus 2pm, Thursdays and 2.30pm, Saturdays. Tickets are on sale at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk or on 01904 623568.