A PRESTIGIOUS stage adaptation of Jane Eyre will be screened by West Yorkshire cinemas during December.

The National Theatre has received critical praise for its production of Charlotte Brontë’s famous novel.

Sally Cookson’s celebrated production, originally performed at Bristol Old Vic, will be broadcast live to 600 cinemas across the UK from the National Theatre on December 8 at 7pm.

The Daily Mail described the production as imaginative, enchanting and magnificent, while the Observer said it was aflame with passion and a picture of exultant feminism.

The “original, engaging and unexpectedly funny” presentation can be seen at cinemas in Bradford, Hebden Bridge, Halifax and Leeds.

The story follows Jane Eyre’s life from her beginnings as a destitute orphan, with the spirited heroine facing life’s obstacles head-on, surviving poverty, injustice and the discovery of bitter betrayal before taking the ultimate decision to follow her heart.

A National Theatre spokesman said: “Almost 170 years on, Charlotte Brontë’s story of the trailblazing Jane is as inspiring as ever.

“This bold and dynamic production uncovers one woman’s fight for freedom and fulfilment on her own terms.”

Future national screenings of major dramas include Shakespeare’s As You Like, with Rosalie Craig as Rosalind, live from the Olivia Theatre on February 25.

The Donmar Warehouse production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Christopher Hampton’s stage adaptation of Laclos’s 1782 novel of sex, intrigue and betrayal in pre-revolutionary France, will be broadcast from the Donmar Warehouse on January 28.

Jane Eyre will be screened at cinemas including the National Media Museum, Cineworld and Odeon in Bradford; the Vue in Halifax; the Showcase, Everyman and Vue in Leeds; Hebden Bridge Picture House; and the Ace Centre in Nelson.

Visit www.ntlive.com for full information about each cinema and booking details.

Jane Eyre was originally published 1847 under Charlotte Brontë’s pen name of Currer Bell.

The novel follows the emotions and experiences of its title character, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr. Rochester, the master of fictitious Thornfield Hall.

The focuses on the gradual unfolding of Jane's moral and spiritual sensibility, events in the novel coloured by a heightened intensity that was previously the domain of poetry.

In this way the novel revolutionised the art of fiction, and Charlotte Brontë has been called the 'first historian of the private consciousness'.

The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core, ahead of its time due to its exploration of classism, sexuality, religion and feminism.

The novel is narrated by Jane, and is set in the north of England during the reign of George III, who reigned in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

Jane’s life story is portrayed in five stages, first her childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is abused by her aunt and cousins, and her oppressive education at Lowood School.

Jane then becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her employer, Edward Rochester, but there is time spent at the home of her cold clergyman cousin before the final romantic ending.