All the great books

Interesting things are not only taking place on TV. Stages around the world are brimming with Brontë-related playes and shows. A few examples here.

A Jane Eyre play (adapted and directed by Richard Rose) will be on stage from tomorrow October 6 until November 18 at the Barter Theatre, Virginia. A local newspaper reported:

Rose said the adaptation is “a tale of opening doors, behind which secrets are revealed” and presents the story as a look into the lives of Brontë’s intriguing characters and their interactions.

Picture Credits: John Hedges and Meredith Autry Holcomb star in Barter Theatre’s fall production of “Jane Eyre.” (Contributed / Barter Theatre)

And After Mrs Rochester is reviewed once again.

"Once it is written down, it doesn't hurt so much." And so Jean Rhys becomes fascinated with the character of the first Mrs. Rochester, Bertha, "the madwoman in the attic" in "Jane Eyre."
Identifying with her, sympathizing with her, Rhys writes "Wide Sargasso Sea," fusing bits of her own life and pain with Bronte's shadowy wretch. [...]
Stephanie Mayer-Staley's evocative set is multi-leveled, an old wooden structure that bespeaks Rhys' poverty. An attic-like space is mostly open except for one door that ominously serves as a partial ceiling. It's notably locked, a barrier, a sign of confinement, captivity and limits, both external and internal.
Over the audience's heads, the Music Hall sports a painted window, replete with blue skies and pleasant clouds. It's a sharp counterpoint to Mayer-Staley's locked door, a reminder how difficult it was for Rhys to allow her thoughts to soar, the supreme effort it was for her even to attempt to free herself.[...]
This is a haunting production that leaves you with much to ponder. Knowledge of "Jane Eyre" or "Wide Sargasso Sea" isn't necessary, although "After Mrs Rochester" may make you want to read both. And if you think you know "Jane Eyre," "After Mrs Rochester" may make you think again.

We have also come across several reviews of a show by the Reduced Shakespeare Company in Florida. They are touring the United States so if you are curious you may find a suitable date and place to go and see them. Funnily enough, they will also be touring Belgium in the coming weeks.

This is the description of the show on their website:

A Little Dickens. A Short Longfellow. Reduced Proust... All the Great Books. Less is More. The Literary Canon explodes as the bad boys of abridgement unleash a brand-new comic outrage on an unsuspecting public. America's best loved comedy troupe takes you on a ninety-eight minute roller-coaster ride through its compact compendium of the World's Great Books.
Confused by Confucius? Thoroughly thrown by Thoreau? Wish Swift was swifter? Tennyson tinier? Then buckle up and hop aboard as the three cultural guerrillas of the RSC zip through everything you didn't get around to reading in school.

And this is what the reviewers are saying about them and the reason why we are talking about them here:

Director Jerry Jensen maintains a quick and steady pace that works fine for the play's leapfrog-style hops across the ages. The Iliad and The Odyssey get fairly complete treatment while numerous asides and footnotes are made to other works, not necessarily with any relevance to one another. The pattern continues throughout the hour and 45-minute program, highlighted by scenes from Oliver Twist, Moby Dick, Don Quixote, Wuthering Heights and winding down with War and Peace. (Sun-Sentinel, read more)

The three race through allusions to some 90 books, from 1984 to Wuthering Heights, lingering just a little longer on The Iliad, The Odyssey, War and Peace and James Joyce's Ulysses. Many of the bits are just plain silly (or stupid, depending on your point of view), as when the ''Trojan horse'' (two of the guys in a horse costume) hops around to the strains of Havah Nagilah. (Miami Herald, read more)

Oh, and you can even watch a preview of the show on their website!

Categories: Theatre, Wide_Sargasso_Sea, Jane_Eyre, Humour