Category: 91Èȱ¬ FOUR; TV Drama; Wales
Date: 07.07.2006
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Rafe Spall, Rebecca Hall and Nina Sosanya head up the cast in an adaptation of Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys' highly-charged prequel to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, by the makers of Spooks and Life on Mars.
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Set in the lush landscape of Jamaica after the emancipation of slaves, Wide Sargasso Sea tells the story of the arranged marriage between a white Creole heiress and an Englishman.
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Rhys, herself a Creole, felt Bronte had misrepresented Creole women in her work.
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She wanted to show an alternative to the story of Bertha Mason, Mr Rochester's first wife, and dispel the 'mad wife' image created by Bronte.
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Rhys' powerful work describes not only the meltdown of lust and passion, but also the atmosphere of paranoia and racial tensions that characterised the Caribbean in the 1830s.
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The film stars Rafe Spall (The Chatterley Affair) as Edward; Rebecca Hall, appearing in Christopher Nolan's new film The Prestige this Autumn, plays his wife Antoinette Cosway; Nina Sosanya (Casanova) plays her nurse Christophine; Michael Maloney plays Mr Mason; Victoria Hamilton plays Cora; and Katrine de Candole plays Annette.
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91Èȱ¬ FOUR Controller Janice Hadlow said: "It's great that Jean Rhys' captivating prequel to Jane Eyre is being adapted for 91Èȱ¬ FOUR and with such a fantastic cast."
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Claire Parker, Co-Executive Producer, said: "Stephen Greenhorn's wonderful script and Brendan Maher's fresh, original direction have attracted a fantastic cast to the project, from exciting, young, emerging talent such as Rafe Spall and Rebecca Hall, to established names such as Nina Sosanya, Victoria Hamilton and Michael Maloney.
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"We are delighted to have the opportunity to bring to the screen Jean Rhys' passionate story of the first Mrs Rochester.
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"This is period drama with a twist - contemporary and compelling."
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Filming for Wide Sargasso Sea is currently underway in Jamaica and in locations around the UK.
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The film is a Kudos Film and Television production.
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It is adapted by Stephen Greenhorn, who has written extensively for the stage and television.
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Stephen's other works include the 91Èȱ¬ ONE series Glasgow Kiss, and 91Èȱ¬ ONE drama Derailed.
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Wide Sargasso Sea is produced by Elwen Rowlands; directed by Brendan Maher (Kidnapped and The Secret Life of Us); and the Executive Producers are Jane Featherstone and Claire Parker for Kudos.
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It was commissioned by Julie Gardner for 91Èȱ¬ Wales drama.
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91Èȱ¬ FOUR has successfully brought highly distinctive dramas to the small-screen, ranging from The Quatermass Experiment, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, The Chatterley Affair and A for Andromeda, to single dramas about figures from our recent past including The Alan Clark Diaries and Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!
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The latter attracted the highest-ever viewing figures for a uniquely commissioned programme on 91Èȱ¬ FOUR, peaking at 946,000 and averaging 846,000 viewers.
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