The lights go up, though only dimly, on the gothic interior of an abandoned farmhouse. Long unused furniture draped in glistening white shrouds stands like a gathering of ghosts, while outside the moors rise so steeply that there is no horizon to be seen.

Terrible events have taken place here we feel, and in a series of flashbacks these events are vividly played out.

Power and tenderness: Jonathan Sidgwick and Ruth CurtisThis is a story of mental torture, of two families destroyed through bitterness and revenge by the orphan brought home to Wuthering Heights; and of course the story of the obsessive inextinguishable passion of Heathcliff and Cathy. The well-to-do Linton home is represented on the left of the small stage by a few hanging chains and jewel-like pieces of glass, while on the right the Earnshaw farmhouse is no more than a mullioned window, a chair and a candelabra - with real lighted candles!

There have been several productions of Wuthering Heights on film and on television, but, intensified by its small scale, this is the best I have seen. The small gloomy stage becomes a cauldron of emotion. No glossy, big-name actress here, but a real Cathy played by Ruth Curtis with great power and at times great tenderness. Her performance is matched in quality by Jonathan Sidgwick's Heathcliff.

His hatred and lust for revenge make him a monster, and yet we can feel for him and wonder how things would have turned out if he had not been so ill-treated when young, and had been able to marry his Cathy.

In all, four actors are required to play a total of ten roles, and at first, as the years roll back and we get to know the protagonists, this is slightly confusing, but as the story gets going one can only admire the quick character-changes made on stage by simple devices such as donning or removing a coat. Paul Huntley-Thomas plays Hindley Earnshaw and also Edgar Linton, and makes a fine job of his roles, as does Polly Kilpatrick who as Ellen Dean tells the story, and who also plays Frances Earnshaw and Isabella Linton.

A major factor in the success of this production is the adaptation of Emily Bronte's novel by Lynn Robertson May, who has turned in a moving and beautifully written script.

Wuthering Heights

On tour in Oxfordshire and beyond until April 7. It can be seen on February 16 in Shipton-under-Wychwood, February 17 in Appleton, February 20 in Bicester, February 22 in Benson and February 24 at the West Oxford Community Centre.

Check out what else is on at the theatre in Oxfordshire.