Aquila Theatre’s version of Wuthering Heights was like a ghostly echo of Emily Bronte’s fiery 1847 novel.

Ethereal dance transitions between scenes brought a dreamlike quality to the production, while the scant setting left lots to the imagination.

One of literature’s most wildly romantic love stories, brought to the stage by the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts, is set against a backdrop of betrayal, revenge, society and the supernatural.

The tale revolves around Heathcliff, a gypsy boy rescued from the city streets by Yorkshire farmer and owner of Wuthering Heights, Mr Earnshaw.

Earnshaw’s children Cathy and Hindley are jealous of Heathcliff and bully him terribly. As time goes on though, Cathy and Heathcliff fall in love — both with each other and the earthy moors surrounding Wuthering Heights. However, dark forces, including the hateful Hindley and Cathy’s desire for social standing, work against them.

There were some powerful performances, not least by Tara Crabbe, encapsulating the difficult, tempestuous female lead Cathy Earnshaw, and Michael Ring as the scathing Hindley. Joseph Cappellazzi fell a little short as Heathcliffe, appearing more gent than gypsy. His soft voice and scrubbed-up good looks do not match with the imposing, rugged man that the gypsy boy grows into.

Cappellazzi is a confident actor and the issue may have been more with casting. Film actors Timothy Dalton and Lawrence Olivier were much closer to the mark.

Although James Lavender’s role as the staunchly religious Joseph was brief, he excelled, causing ripples of laughter to spread throughout the theatre, while Carys Lewis made a tame but likeable narrator in Nelly. Lewis also had a beautifully soothing singing voice when she sang a lullaby for Hindley’s son, Hareton.

A casting limitation landed Michael Ring in the role of Linton’s sister, Isabella. Draped in a baby blue gown and floppy lace bonnet, the lanky actor appeared to curl himself over to hide his height, while his masculine voice and flat chest were comical. Isabella’s character was supposed to bring some fun to the original story, her juvenile infatuation for Heathcliff being fuelled by a love of trashy romance novels, but the comedy was never meant to be on a par with Monty Python.

As is the case with so many film and theatre adaptations, much of the story had to be either eluded to or omitted for the sake of fitting it all in. Aquila had to cut out the last part of the story, ending tidily before Heathcliff’s great revenge took root.

The months and years Cathy and Heathcliff spent roaming their beloved moors together, building their childhood bonds and cherishing the very earth beneath their feet, were reduced to a few small scenes and a floor-to-ceiling projection of the pink heather. But the Valentine’s night couples in the audience need not have been too disappointed as the play captured the raw attraction between the lovers later on in the production.

Cathy’s wild ravings coupled with Heathcliff’s torment as their worlds fell further and further apart were enough to tug heavily on the heartstrings.