Jane Eyre in Anaheim

Last week, Thursday and Friday May 17-18, the audience at Anaheim High School, California, could see a performance of the stage version of Jane Eyre adapted by Robert Johanson. Stage Critter reviews it

Anaheim High School has had a strong drama program for many years under the enthusiastic direction of Sharon King. If a drama teacher is lucky enough to get a good handful of naturally talented students they act as a catalyst to the others to strive for better performance.

Last Friday they put a huge effort into a simplified version of the classic, Jane Eyre. With some sets borrowed from Fullerton Light Opera the stage at times was splendid with chandeliers and great furniture for Mr. Rochester’s home. Many other scenes were played flat across the apron or as sub-sets within Rochester’s manor.

Jane Eyre (Yolanda Navarro) often narrates the story while her younger self is played by Giselle Contreras. Both students play with clear diction and fine choices of inflection. Jane Eyre, as a girl, is taken in by a family that could care nothing for her. The elder boy beats her up in a few moments of graphic violence before this callous family lands her in an orphanage. In a charming scene in which the orphans girls neatly line up in their uniforms the headmaster, brimming with the theology of sin and hellfire, stalks among the girls intimidating them with his gravelly voice. This is Mr. Brocklehurst, well portrayed by Erik Perez with huge energy, though the lowering of his pitch made his voice at times indistinct.

Young Jane grows up and becomes a governess (a live-in home tutor). Schools could be pretty grim in those days. Eventually she finds a position in the home of Mr. Rochester whose mad wife is locked away in some hidden garret. But her cries and groans escape the walls and Jane becomes aware of the prisoner.

Of course we are all awaiting the arrival of Mr. Rochester, played by Alex Martinez. Alex naturally sports a fine head of long hair which he wore in a pony tail for this play. I think there were other options (without cutting it off) that would have made his silhouette less striking. He loves drama, but should try to improve his enunciation for his lines were frequently incomprehensible. He also needed a more upright posture.

The play exhibited problems that seem common to most school productions. On cue actors walk on, go to their spot (often in a straight line, ugh!) and say their lines. They do nothing if they have nothing to say, and finally walk off. It looks awful. Directors (the drama teachers as a rule) need to fix this. This is not unique to Anaheim. [...]

Back to Jane Eyre. I think the huge stage gave then as many problems as it did opportunities. The sumptuous drawing room scene took up all the stage. This made it awkward to accommodate subsidiary sets against the background; so Jane’s bed (stage right) was jarring, and Rochester’s bedroom, upstage left, seemed out of place.
When the curtains came down, the actors were left with having to play flat across the front of the stage, which led to blocking problems. The painted wall, which projected higher than the stage itself also blocked visibility when actors played on the floor.

More strange yet was the lighting, which may have been just a bad day for the operators. But we had scenes where half the stage was in darkness and unlit actors were in the scene. Tech rehearsals should solvesthese problems. Another time we had Jane, unlit, stage left, half hidden behind the curtain, mostly with back to the audience. Nuff said. I guess it was not meant to be like that. Hey – it’s school drama and this was an ambitious project for the drama classes. Who’s perfect?

Unfortunately, we had to leave before the show was over, so I never got to see the discovery of Mrs. Rochester, or the great fire.

Anaheim - you worked hard and did a good job. You'll learn from the experience, I'm sure. (Michael Buss)

Categories: Jane Eyre, Theatre