A couple of Janes

Jane Eyre on the news.

The US tour of The Acting Company performing Polly Teale's Jane Eyre is coming to the Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. A couple of newspapers report it and give some extra information.

The Ball State Daily News

When Charlotte Brontë wrote "Jane Eyre," few women published novels, let alone bestsellers. Because she and her sisters had previously released a book of poetry published under male pseudonyms with limited success, Brontë decided to publish the book under her own name.
More than 150 years after its publication, the romance novel has been adapted into a miniseries, a film, a Broadway musical and a national touring production. (...)
The Acting Company's adaptation of London's West End drama is different from most productions of the show, Hannah Cabell, the actress playing the title character, said.
"The adaptation leaves a lot of room for actors and directors to fill in the images of the story," Cabell said. (...)
Dr. Cheryl Bove, assistant professor of English, reads "Jane Eyre" as part of her advanced humanities course that covers literary topics of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The story is relevant to college students because Eyre wants a life other than the one society says she can have, she said.
"We want her to succeed; her spirit helps us see we can do what we want to do," Bove said.
Matthew Steiner, who plays Jane's benefactor St. John Rivers among three other roles, said he's grateful to be part of the production to help dispel the common conception of "Jane Eyre" as just another Victorian romance.
"It's usually seen more as a woman's story, but ['Jane Eyre'] is the classic tale of anyone suppressing themselves," he said. "It's about how you come to terms with [the struggle]."
In preparing for the production, Cabell said she could imagine how Eyre would react to situations today because the character's struggles surpass the bounds of time.
"Even though the story itself took place in the 19th century, I still can relate to [Jane]," she said. "Human beings are human beings. [Her independence] sort of seeps into you." (Amanda Junk)

The Indiana Star Press interviews State University English department instructor Stacy Embry:

Q: True or false: Charlotte was the (relatively) happy Brontë.

A: She survived the deaths of her siblings only to die young in a foreign place. Read later works -- you'll understand her pain.

Ms Embry should read a biography, any biography would do... even a simple encyclopedia. Charlotte Brontë died at 39 (young, but no so young, particularly in 1855) and in HER HOME.

And now the latest BBC version that now it's being aired in New Zealand is commented on a local newspaper:

But this Jane Eyre is surprisingly fresh. It's almost brutal.
For one thing, the heroine is quite plain, to the point of having slightly irritating looks. Normally, showbiz palms us off with an extremely pretty Jane, and expects us to pretend that no one can see past her extremely severe hairdo and plain clothes.
This plain Jane, played with flawless gravity by Ruth Wilson, has beautiful skin, but that's where it ends. She has eyebrows like seagull wings, and a distinctly ducky mouth. She is almost entirely humourless, desperately buttoned-up, fearful and ever so slightly chippy just below the surface.
This might not be quite what Charlotte Bronte intended, but it feels much closer than other versions' Janes, who are introduced as fully-matured beacons of character. After the life Jane has had so far – orphaned, bullied, dumped in a freezing, cruel learning institution, her only friend dead – we could hardly expect to find her warm, sweet-natured and aglow with inner beauty.
On the contrary, she's damaged, and this makes her undemonstrative to a fault – a bit of a pain, actually. She has to go on a journey to find her true character.
By degrees, we see this Jane find courage and perspective. Also a relief is the programme's restraint over Jane's – for now – utterly futile crush on her employer. It doesn't, as other depictions have done, enoble this into a grand passion. That is to come. The other refreshing take on the story is that Mr Rochester is allowed to be sexy, and to display a sense of humour.
Toby Stephens' hero is, as he must be, dark and brooding with wild, unkempt hair and a manly bearing – all the good gothic romance stuff. But he's also rather languid and louche. When he talks to Jane, you can see the mischief cogs whirring in his brain.
We get much more of a sense than is usual in screen Jane Eyres of his boredom, and his rather cruel amusement at playing with people, judging them slyly and experimenting with their emotions. If he were a modern hero, he'd be putting party pills in the punch. (...)
It's also a lovely change also to see Pam Ferris, normally in cuddly, mumsy roles, cast as Grace Poole, the unhappy, unpleasant and vaguely sinister laundress who lives in the attic. We know what Jane doesn't – that she looks like a hatched-faced prison wardress because that's what she secretly is. But all that's to come in next week's episode.
Another highlight is the depiction of Rochester's ward Adele. Normally she is played by an excessively pretty little girl, but here, as with Jane, this actress is unexceptional in looks, and this underlines the grotesquerie of her coquettish behaviour. (Jane Clifton in The Dominion Post)

A brief video from the bonus features of the UK Jane Eyre DVD can be found on The Monomania Diaries:

So here's a short video (my first ever!), taken from the bonus interviews, where Toby Stephens, Ruth Wilson and screenplay writer Sandy Welch talk about the chemistry between Jane and her tempestuous master.

Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Theatre