Reader, she’s coming to London. One of the great love stories of English literature is being reborn as a musical, and this summer it makes its long-awaited UK premiere south of the river. Jane Eyre — the five-time Tony-nominated musical by John Caird and Paul Gordon, based on Charlotte Brontë’s revolutionary 1847 novel — runs at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 28 August to 24 October 2026, and full casting has just been announced.
Leading the company are the previously announced West End stars Charlie Burn as Jane and Ashley Gilmour as the brooding Mr Rochester. They are joined by Claire Greenway (Abbot/Grace Poole), Melad Hamidi (St John/Lord Ingram), Connor Wood (John Reed/Vicar), Jonathan Andrew Hume (Brocklehurst/Mason), Izzi Levine, Hannah Lindsey (Scatcherd/Bertha Mason), Isabelle Methven (Helen Burns/Bessie), Gemma Page (Reed/Fairfax) and Eve Shanu-Wilson — with Poppy Jason and Emily-Rose Samuel sharing the roles of Young Jane and Adèle.
It is a homecoming of sorts for a show with deep London roots in its DNA. Jane Eyre is co-directed by John Caird, the RSC and National Theatre director who adapted and co-directed the original Les Misérables in the West End, on Broadway and around the world, and who most recently steered the acclaimed stage adaptation of Spirited Away at the London Coliseum. Alongside him is Broadway’s Megan McGinnis — a star of Beauty and the Beast, Little Women and Beetlejuice — making her co-directing debut on the production.
The creative team gathers some serious West End firepower: Georgina Lamb (choreographer), Morgan Large (set and costume designer), Andrew Johnson (sound), James Whiteside (lighting), Ben Kubiak (musical director and supervisor) and Sarah-Jane Price (casting director).
A gothic romance, set to music
Brontë’s tale needs little introduction: the orphaned, plain-but-fierce governess who arrives at Thornfield Hall, falls for its tormented master, and discovers the terrible secret locked away upstairs. It is a story of ambition and independence, of gothic mystery and great, consuming love — and in Jane it gave English fiction what many consider its first true feminist heroine. Accompanied by an epic, sweeping score, this production promises to bring that 19th-century world thrillingly into the present.
The musical has a history almost as dramatic as its source. It premiered in Toronto in 1996 before transferring to Broadway in 2000, where it earned five Tony Award nominations. Now, for the show’s 30th-anniversary year, producer Adam Blanshay Productions has partnered with the original Canadian producers, David and Hannah Mirvish, to give it its first-ever UK staging.
Prepare to see Jane, the first feminist literary icon, like you never have before.
It’s a fitting fit for Southwark Playhouse Elephant, the company’s newest venue, which opened at Elephant & Castle in January 2023 and has quickly built a reputation for ambitious musical theatre at close quarters. Intimate enough that you’ll feel every secret Thornfield is keeping.
The Essentials
- Production: Jane Eyre, a musical by John Caird & Paul Gordon, based on the novel by Charlotte Brontë
- Starring: Charlie Burn (Jane) and Ashley Gilmour (Rochester)
- Co-directed by: John Caird & Megan McGinnis
- Where: Southwark Playhouse Elephant, 1 Dante Place, London SE11 4RX
- When: 28 August – 24 October 2026 (press night 8 September). Mon–Wed 7pm; Thu 2.30pm & 7pm; Fri 7pm; Sat 2.30pm & 7pm
- Tickets: £20–£47.50 (£10 Pioneers’ Preview on 28 Aug; £16 previews)
- Booking: southwarkplayhouse.co.uk · 020 7407 0234
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