YORK company Baron Productions present Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre in a new adaptation by director Ali Morgan at St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York, tonight.

"Jane Eyre is a classic tale of defiance, determination, and the unbroken spirit of a young woman fighting for her place in the world," says company founder Daniel Wilmot, who will play Mr Rochester alongside well-known faces from York’s acting scene plus newcomer Moll Barton in the title role.

In Bronte's story, orphan girl Jane is raised by a cruel aunt and forced to grow up amid abuse and bullying from all sides. Eventually taking a job as a governess at the gothic mansion of Thornfield Hall, she almost immediately falls for her employer, the enigmatic Mr Rochester.

However, with the sneering eyes of society on her, and Rochester’s dark secrets threatening to engulf the pair of them, it will take all of Jane’s wit and intelligence to survive and determine her own fate.

Joining Wilmot and Barton in Morgan's cast will be Paul Toy as Brocklehurst, Mason and St John Rivers; Mandy Newby as Mrs Reed, Mrs Fairfax and Hannah; Raffy Parker as Adele, Blanche Ingram and Bertha, and Morgan herself as Bessie and Grace Poole.

Baron Productions was formed by Wilmot in 2015 to produce the swashbuckling romp Crossed Swords, since when they have presented a new adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture Of Dorian Gray last year and Nevermore: A Night of Gothic Tales this year.

York writer and director Morgan studied playwriting with David Edgar at the University Of Birmingham and teaches drama at Tread The Boards School of Performing Arts. Her original stage plays include 7.20, Lucky 6, Last Awake and The Brontes Of Hades, while her directing credits include The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Nevermore and Vincent: A Portrait Of Van Gogh.

Doors open at 7pm for tonight's 7.30pm preview performance, after which Baron Productions will tour Jane Eyre to the Network Theatre in London, Windermere, Durham and Hitchin, concluding at the Old School Rooms in Haworth, the West Riding village home of the Brontë sisters, on August 19 and 20 at 7.30pm.

Tickets for tonight cost £12, concessions £9, online at ticketsource.co.uk/baron-productions or on the door.