If a fictional character could speak to people today, few could do it more eloquently than Jane Eyre.

Born into poverty, rejected, cheated, deceived, battered - she should by rights be undergoing counselling or in rehab.

Or at least she should be waiting in the wings to have her whinge on the Jeremy Kyle show.

The problem with Charlotte Bronte's heroine is she just won't wear the victim's smock. She is feisty, belligerent and determined as she discovers her true inner self.

And that struggle has been caught so brilliantly in the Bristol Old Vic/National Theatre's version of Jane Eyre, which is at The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury until Saturday.

This isn't an adaptation or a simple re-working of the novel. Director Sally Cookson bravely re-invents the character. It is pacy, poignant and packing a punch - this is genuinely refreshing fresh Eyre.

And while Cookson occasionally plays fast and loose with the novel (starting and ending the play with “It’s a girl! It’s a girl!” - words not penned by Bronte), it sets out its bold agenda without apology.

This isn’t a simple love story or one about redemption. It’s about Jane’s passion for freedom and her determination to face the world head-on.

It’s about self-empowerment and it works.

It was hard to believe during the performance of just short of three hours that there was only a cast of 10 - and some of them musicians.

At the heart of the play was Nadia Clifford as the eponymous heroine who grows from desperate child into a woman of substance with an ease that was truly believable.

And while paying homage to the period with smocks, corsets and bonnets, we follow Jane’s journey via a set of ladders, a climbing frame and platforms, from designer Michael Vale.

It is a tale of verve and humour told by a group of wonderful versatile actors who play children, adults and even a scene-stealing dog by the hilarious Paul Mundell as Rochester’s pet Pilot.

The audience is whisked through Jane’s miserable childhood, through more misery at Lowood House and onto her posting as governess at Thornfield Hall, in a series of snapshots.

And fused seamlessly into the story is music - not Jane Eyre The Musical, but Jane Eyre with music wonderfully performed by Matthew Churcher, Alex Heane and David Ridley, and enriched by Melanie Marshall’s soulful singing.

But it’s Nadia Clifford’s powerful performance as the determined rebel - moving from Jane the downtrodden child to GI Jane, who lets rip with a volley of invective against her oppressors - which is utterly captivating.

By her side is a wonderful ensemble of talent, with Hannah Bristow taking on five roles, Evelyn Miller taking on three and Lynda Rooke as both the vile Mrs Reed and the wonderful Mrs Fairfax. They also voice Jane’s conflicting thoughts.

Evelyn Miller manages to play Jane's friend Bessie, her love rival Blanche and her suitor St John Rivers so convincingly.

And smouldering in the background is the curmudgeonly Rochester, played by Tim Delap, who is drawn to his daughter’s governess like a moth to a deadly flame.

You are left feeling that if a Jane-like figure were alive today, you would hope she would be at the head of Britain’s negotiations on Brexit!