A DARK and passionate love story will immerse Keighley Playhouse audiences this month.

The theatre company is staging Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights in celebration of the author’s 200th birthday.

The novel is set on the wild, windswept Yorkshire moors and portrays the tempestuous relationship of free-spirited Catherine and dark, brooding Heathcliff.

Written in 1847, the story was regarded as shocking and inappropriate in its time.

Earnshaw and his son Hindley, who live at remote Wuthering Heights on the moors, rescue a poor boy from the docks of Liverpool.

As time goes by Heathcliff falls for Earnshaw’s daughter Cathy, yet attracting nothing but hatred from Hindley.

As children running wild and free on the moors, Cathy and Heathcliff are inseparable.

Nikki Barrett is directing this production, which is Keighley Playhouse’s entry in this year Wharfedale Festival.

It has been 25 years since the playhouse staged Wuthering Heights in an adaptation by Charles Vance, in which Nikki played Cathy herself.

Nikki said: “I feel extremely fortunate for the opportunity to direct a play so close to my heart, and it has rekindled my love for such a passionate story.”

The new adaptation by April De Angelis explores the full novel and stays very true to the story and characters.

It is slightly different from the usual Keighley Playhouse show as it is written as a simple production with minimal set and props, allowing the audience to use their imagination.

Wuthering Heights is at Keighley Playhouse in Devonshire Street, from Monday to Saturday, April 23 to 28, at 7.30pm. Call 07599 890769 to book tickets.