A senior Jane Eyre and a NRA Patrick Brontë

Playbill carries an article about the Minneapolis performances of Jane Eyre at the Guthrie Theatre, now in previews (the official premiere will be next September 14).

Directed by John Miller-Stephany, the production features Jane at three ages, played by three different actresses: Stacia Rice plays the adult Jane, while Lucy Lawton and Margaret Daly play, respectively, Child Jane and Jane Senior. Sean Haberle is Edward Rochester.

Interestingly, a Jane Senior makes an appearance. We wonder if this is the Jane who narrates the novel, giving the first person narration body years after the main part of the story.
(In the picture, Stacia Rice (Jane Eyre), Sean Haberle (Edward Rochester) and Margaret Daly (Jane Senior) in rehearsal for Jane Eyre. Photo by Michal Daniel. Source)

The cast also includes Jessie Austrian (Blanche Ingram/Barbara), Jennifer Blagen (Miss Scatcherd/Diana Rivers), Barbara Bryne (Mrs. Fairfax), Caroline Cooney (Leah), Laura Esping (Miss Temple/Mary Rivers), Nathaniel Fuller (Mr. Brocklehurst/Mr. Wood), Peter Christian Hansen (St. John Rivers/Surgeon), Charity Jones (Mrs. Reed/Bertha), Barbara Kingsley (Lady Ingram/Hannah), Ron Menzel (Richard Mason), Peggy O'Connell (Grace Poole), John Skelley (Davie) and Peter Thomson (Lord Ingram/Briggs).

The children's cast comprises Makenzie Allen (Georgiana Reed/School Girl), Grace Blevins (Adele), Shane Ellis (John Reed) Shelby Flannery (Helen Burns/School Girl), Alexis Gaither (Girl Pupil #1/School Girl), Hanna Kowalczyk (Orphan/Annie), Mac Rasmus (Broughton Brocklehurst), Amy Schroeder (Orphan/School Girl), Tiara Shockency (Eliza Reed/School Girl) and Caledonia Wilson (Orphan/Marjory).

"Having survived an orphan childhood made painful at the hands of an unkind aunt and a cruel school headmaster," press notes state, "a young Jane Eyre accepts the position of governess to a ward at Thornfield Hall. There, she wins the heart of her employer, Edward Rochester, a kind yet mysterious man. On their wedding day, Jane's love, strength and determination are tested as Rochester's long-kept secrets are unveiled, changing both their lives forever."

The artistic staff includes Andrew Cooke (composer), Patrick Clark (set and costume designer), Matthew Reinert (lighting designer), Scott W. Edwards (sound designer), Carla Steen (dramaturg), Lucinda Holshue (voice and dialect coach), Marcela Lorca (movement), Peter Moore (fight director), Chris A. Code (stage manager), Amy Monroe (assistant stage manager) and Suzy Messerole (assistant director). (Andresw Gans)

Valerie Martin's Trespass, a novel that was presented on BrontëBlog a few weeks ago, is the subject of a couple of articles in The Guardian and The Scotsman that reminds us of its Wuthering Heights references:

As for Chloe herself, she has been commissioned to illustrate a new edition of Wuthering Heights. "It was the obvious choice because it is about a foreigner [Heathcliff] who wrecks not just one but two families," says Martin. To Chloe, that was exactly what Salome was doing to her own tight-knit brood. (David Robinson in The Scotsman)

The Times publishes a rather controversial article on gun control and reminds us of a time when there were no gun restrictions in England providing a Brontë example:

Charlotte Brontë recalled that her curate father fastened his watch and pocketed his pistol every morning when he got dressed[.] (Richard Munday)

They were different times too...

On the blogosphere, Dgillz is reading (I'm finding it mesmerizing) Jane Eyre.

We would like to finish with a mention to Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jane Eyre in Zeffirelli's version, who fortunately seems to be recovering after emergency brain surgery.

Categories: Books, In the News, Jane Eyre Theatre, Wuthering Heights