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Jane
Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte
25 February - 2 March
Jane Eyre is one of the great romantic heroines of world literature. Orphaned into cold charity at the hands of her rich cousins and, later, at Lowood School, Jane escapes to take up a position as a governess to the young ward of Mr Rochester. Against all odds and conventions of the period love blooms between Jane and Rochester but is dealt a heavy blow by the discovery of Rochester's secret, hideously concealed in the attic of Thornfield Hall.
This new production of Charlotte Bronte's gothic tale has been adapted by
Polly Teale and was first presented by the Shared Experience Theatre Company.
Jane Eyre is a love story of an intelligent young woman determined to remain
her own person. A novel, rare in its time for its sympathetic portrayal of
the love of a married man for another woman. Above all it is a drama of passionate
intensity whose pace never slackens.
How does one stage a novel as sweeping as Jane Eyre?
A novel written in the first person with a heroine who must outwardly conform to the social norms of acceptance and placidity. The inner Jane is very different, a girl who is both passionate and intelligent. This classic tale of a 'poor, obscure and plain' Victorian girl has been one the best loved and most read books since its first publication.
To stage this novel without losing its power is indeed a challenge. The Shared Experience Theatre Company has adapted many classic novels over the past 10 years - 'Travels with my Aunt', 'Mill on the Floss', 'War and Peace' and 'Anna Kerenina' to name but a few.
This version of 'Jane Eyre', adapted by Polly Teale, puts the heroine's narrative and her inner life together on stage. Her most inspired idea is to show Jane from childhood in both these inner and outer selves. From the opening of the play, after Jane makes an ill-advised attack on the bullying John Reed, she is forced to shut her passionate side away.
In the play, two characters are introduced as Jane in childhood. At the end of the first scene we see the symbolic separation and shutting away of the passionate inner self so that Jane can become acceptable to the world at large. Like the book, these two characters express the thoughts and frustrations of not being able to take control of her own destiny. Underlying this is a rigid social structure where there were few openings for women outside marriage. This is further complicated by the conflict of her overwhelming love for the passionate Mr. Rochester and the threat of a loveless marriage to the detached St John Rivers.
Polly Teale has liberated Jane Eyre in a way that Charlotte Bronte could not and this adaptation offers a satisfyingly meaty dramatic experience.
Barry
Hooper, Director
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