Thursday, November 01, 2007
This week Catherine went to to the Brontë parsonage in Haworth: "You can still see the original visitor centre where the doomed sisters would stay up all night, baking biscuits." And read, accordingly, Wuthering Heights: "Its extraordinary depravities somehow escaped me at the age of 14. One puts it down full of gratitude for the modern social services."Original visitor centre? Baking biscuits? We wonder where the journalist has been...
The Telegraph & Argus talks about recent activities in the 'real' Brontë Parsonage Museum:
Youngsters ran wild at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in preparation for Hallowe'en.The Tampa Creative Loafing reviews the Gorilla Theatre's performances of Polly Teale's Jane Eyre:
They were at the Haworth museum in the half-term holiday taking part in Wild Workshops.
The activities, run by the parsonage, included making a spooky Hallowe'en lantern from leaves and twigs, paper and glitter.
They were taken to the nearby graveyard to collect materials as well as inspiration.
Parsonage education officer Sue Newby said: "We took the children to look at Tabby Aykroyd's grave.
"She used to be the housekeeper here and told all the Brontë children ghost stories."
Among those taking part was Hannie Rollins, 10, of Cullingworth, who said: "I made my lantern of a spider because they are scary."
The next children's workshop at the Brontë Parsonage Museum is due to be held on December 15.
The workshop will have a Christmas theme.
Part of the time she's unbridled sensuality, dancing triumphantly, exulting in her physical nature like a splendid, graceful animal. At other moments, she crouches in despair in her closed room, shakes convulsively like an invalid painfully unable to stop her tremors. Mr. Rochester identifies her as "Bertha," the woman he married in Jamaica and who went mad shortly thereafter. But in Polly Teale's adaptation of Jane Eyre, she's also Jane's alter ego, an unnamed beauty who longs to be free of her attic cage, to be allowed the free expression of all her capacities, female and human. As stunningly played by Shana Perkins, she's perhaps the best reason to see the fine adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's novel currently being offered by Gorilla Theatre. But there are others: the across-the-board first-class acting of the nine-member ensemble, Nancy Cole's intelligent directing, Robin Gordon's thrilling choreography. And there's also the pleasure of being reminded that a century and a half ago -- 1847, to be exact -- feminist Brontë was already aware that women were being psychologically maimed by men's expectations. So if you happen to know a male who thinks women belong at Hooters or at home, you might invite him to come with you to this provocative production. Then buy him a drink and have a pointed chat.The Illinois Times recommends Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair. The Delta Sky finds echoes of Jane Eyre in Carol Goodman's The Sonnet Lover:
You may be familiar with the story, either from the novel itself or from the 1944 movie with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles: Jane Eyre is an orphan being raised by her mean-spirited aunt. Rebellious and independent-minded, she's banished one day to the "Red Room," a kind of paradigm for all the prisons to which women were once dispatched when they dared to assert themselves. But her spirit isn't broken; when she's sent to the school at Loward, not even the nasty Mr. Brocklehurst can turn her into a pale, subservient robot. After several years at Loward, Jane is hired as a governess at Thornfield, the Gothic mansion owned by the intimidating, Byronic Mr. Rochester. But though Rochester seems destined to marry a certain Blanche, he proposes instead to Jane, who has already fallen in love with him. The marriage is about to be solemnized when (spoiler alert) it's revealed that Rochester is already wed -- to the madwoman Bertha he keeps locked away in an attic room. Rochester begs Jane to accept him nonetheless -- and Jane must decide what to make of her future. Can she be satisfied living as Rochester's mistress? Or can she find happiness living away from the man she loves?
Now, it would be misleading to describe Jane as a proto-Rosie O'Donnell; instead she's quiet-spoken, well-mannered and often unsure of herself. But what adapter Teale asks us to imagine, in the person of Bertha, is all the energy that Jane sometimes channels but mostly suppresses. So while Jane is tentatively standing up for herself, Bertha is dancing in wild celebration; and when Jane is losing ground, doubting her inspiration, poor Bertha is in mourning, head in hands, an abandoned woman. The existence of this duo -- the "real" Jane, usually at ground level, trying to navigate through the confusion of life, and the metaphorical Bertha, usually in the attic, signaling meaning -- is never intrusive, never a distraction from Brontë's plot: One comments on the other as in a complex modern dance. There are even some crucial moments when the two women act or speak together, and we're informed that stubborn Jane has actually attained her highest self.
But it's not at all clear that she'll be able to sustain herself there. As played by Katherine Michelle Tanner, Jane is insistently human, credible and vulnerable, as endangered by 19th-century expectations as any "normal" woman would have been. Tanner, who was so stunning as the complexly cerebral heroine of Proof some years ago, takes just the opposite approach in this much different story. Her Jane is careful and even methodical as she learns to play the hand history has dealt her, and she never gives in to anyone's -- not even Rochester's -- idea of the feminine. Playing against and then with her is Ned Averill-Snell, whose Rochester lacks only a consistent English accent, and who otherwise is ideal as the fast-living former lothario who comes to understand that what he really needs is plain, honest Jane. It's a pleasure to see Averill-Snell back on a Bay area stage: As his performance here reminds us, he's one of our very best actors. Also superb is Emilia Sargent, who lends her considerable talent -- and beautiful singing voice -- to the part of Blanche Ingram, the woman seemingly "meant" for Rochester; and Gretchen Porro is enchanting as Adele, the French-speaking girl whom Jane is hired to look after. Skillfully rounding out the cast are Ami Sallee Corley, Slake Counts and Harlan B. Work, who as the minister St. John Rivers asks Jane to join him in a loveless marriage. The drama's many short scenes are punctuated by Betsy Goode playing a pithy but eloquent cello; and Keith Arsenault's lighting has a major role in focusing our attention on the multileveled set. That set is the only weak area in the show's design: boxy, gray and generic-looking, it detracts from the period feeling of the drama and bleaches the soul right out of the dialogue. Fortunately, Mick Buck and Jennifer Cunningham's costumes are there to remind us that we are, after all, in that foreign country, the past.
Or perhaps I should say: ahead of our time. What Charlotte Brontë knew, and what adapter Peale reminds us, is that men, even besotted Rochesters, regularly try to force women into dreadfully limited roles and that it takes a formidable spirit to hold out for something more. Jane Eyre is the story of one woman who refuses to forget her true potential. It's a special joy to watch her -- in this sturdy Gorilla Theatre production -- finally prevail. (Mark E. Leib)
There are shades of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, or Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (a personal favorite of Goodman’s). But here, instead of an imposing Gothic English house looming on a dark and stormy night, we are transported to sun-splashed Tuscany, to a lush villa with the musical name La Civetta. (Nancy Oakley)On the blogosphere: Writer Unboxed has read Juliet Barker's The Brontës: A life in Letters and talks about it. Феанвэлл talks about Jane Eyre in Russian. Water Ink reports the following about Jane Eyre and China:
Finally, the results of this year's Withens Skyline Seven-mile fell race can be found in The Telegraph & Argus.Yesterday someone on LKCN BBS asked where she could visit Thornfield, the place where Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester fall in love. It was quickly worked out by other Brontë fans that North Lees Hall and Hathersage are probably the best the places to go. Of course, the place where Mr Darcy and Miss Bennet fall in love is also a good destination for the romantic types. And with so many adaptations, the choices are abundant.
Brontë sisters and Jane Austen are equally, if not more, popular in China than in the English speaking world. The most popular Jane Eyre adaption in China, the 1970 version starring Susannah York and George Scott, was dubbed into Chinese and watched by millions people in late 70s, at the time when the country was just starting to recover from the shock of Cultural Revolution. The possibility of passionate love, in the guise of rebellion against social classes, was slipped into the mind of a whole generation. (Pin Lu)
The youngster's enthusiasm carried him with the leaders to the second checkpoint, Top Withins ruin, but by then it was quicker and safer for him to carry on in the race.Categories: Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Theatre
On the tourist path to the famous Bronte Bridge, he lost 20 yards on the leading group but, once over the bridge and up the scramble of Bronte waterfalls, he used his natural turn of speed to open a cushion over Alex Whittam and Oldfield to actually win the race. (Sports Desk)
Search
Labels
- Advert (7)
- Agnes Grey (335)
- Alert (1664)
- Anne Brontë (575)
- Art-Exhibitions (970)
- Arthur Bell Nicholls (34)
- At The... (11)
- Audio-Radio (581)
- Biography (356)
- Books (3999)
- Branwell Brontë (368)
- Brontë 200 (395)
- Brontë Birthplace (15)
- Brontë Parsonage Museum (1612)
- Brontë Society (543)
- Brontëana (770)
- Brontëites (1929)
- Brussels (283)
- Charlotte Brontë (939)
- Comics (415)
- Contest (34)
- Cottage Poems (8)
- Dance (360)
- Elizabeth Gaskell (242)
- Ellen Nussey (13)
- Emily Brontë (1060)
- Fake News & Blunders (135)
- Fiction (421)
- Haworth (1792)
- Humour (363)
- Illustrations (163)
- In Memoriam (6)
- In the News (1182)
- Ireland (87)
- Jane Eyre (7614)
- Journals (553)
- Juvenilia (294)
- Maria Branwell Brontë (25)
- Mary Taylor (64)
- Messages from BB (108)
- Movies-DVD-TV (4586)
- Music (2274)
- New Releases (7)
- Opera (231)
- Patrick Brontë (211)
- Penzance (15)
- Poetry (860)
- Red House (54)
- References (2743)
- Reminder (126)
- Review (138)
- Scarborough (82)
- Scholar (1234)
- Sequels and Retellings (1145)
- Shirley (275)
- Software (17)
- Talks (1472)
- The Professor (135)
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (526)
- Theatre (3286)
- Thornton (158)
- Top Withens (93)
- Translations (521)
- Unfinished Novels (9)
- Victorian Era (392)
- Villette (563)
- Websites & Apps (196)
- Weirdo (663)
- Wide Sargasso Sea (1025)
- Wuthering Heights (6973)
Recent Posts
Old Labels
Blog Archive
Other BrontëBlogs
-
The Brontë Sisters And Bonfire Night - As you all surely know by now I’m passionate about all things Brontë – and I know that you are too. I also love history, especially Tudor and Stuart histor...7 hours ago
-
More taphophilia! This time in search of Constantin Heger's grave in Brussels. - Constantin Heger's Grave Charlotte Bronte Constantin Heger Whilst on a wonderful four day visit to Brussels in October 2024, where I had t...1 week ago
-
Empezando a leer con Jane Eyre (parte 2) - ¡Hola a todos! Hace unos pocos días enseñaba aquí algunas fotografías de versiones de Jane Eyre de Charlotte Brontë adaptadas para un público infantil en f...2 weeks ago
-
Sara Zadrozny on nature and emotions – some reflections - It was a real delight (as always) to attend the Brussels Brontë Group talks on 12 October. Joanne Wilcock’s presentation on her various trips to Brontë-r...2 weeks ago
-
More Bronte-Inspired Fiction - After my latest post, I realised there were a few more titles inspired by the Brontës that I’d missed from my list. Here they are: A Little Princess by Fra...2 weeks ago
-
Jane Eyre 2011- First Impressions - Dear readers, I am... still catching up on all of the Bronte news that I've missed since my days as editor of this blog. Among these is the most recent ...1 month ago
-
Review Jane Eyre the Musical - Theatre Raleigh Production - Earlier this year, Theatre Raleigh in North Carolina premiered the updated production of Jane Eyre the Musical by Paul Gordon and John Caird. Jane Eyre t...2 months ago
-
Portraits IA des Brontë - Chères lectrices, chers lecteurs, Cela fait déjà quatre années que je n’ai pas publié d’articles dans ce blogue, et cela m’a manqué! Je fus en effet confro...2 months ago
-
Over 100,000 blog visits - My objective was always for tell the story of William Smith Williams. His relationship with Charlotte Brontë is well known, but nonetheless fascinating...2 months ago
-
第39回大会のご案内 - 10月19日(土)に日本ブロンテ協会第39回大会を神戸市看護大学にて開催いたします。プログラムはこちらをご覧ください。ポスター 大会会場へのさらなる詳細なアクセスなど「神戸市看護大学アクセス詳細版」はこちらをご覧ください。 大会に参加される方はこちらから9月末日までにお申し込みください。2 months ago
-
Interesting side over the Haworth Old Post Office, with beautiful photo's. - *facebook/theoldpostofficehaworth*: Restoring the old Brontë Post Office to its Victorian glory... This is the original location where Emily Brontë pass...7 months ago
-
Goodbye, Jane - As two wonderful years come to an end, Piper and Lillian reflect on what we've learned from Jane Eyre. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Happy...9 months ago
-
The Calderdale Windfarm - *The Calderdale Windfarm* Sixty-five turbines, each one of them forty metres taller than Blackpool Tower! All of them close by Top Withens. This is what ...9 months ago
-
Hello! - This is our new post website for The Anne Brontë Society. We are based in Scarborough UK, and are dedicated to preserving Anne’s work, memory, and legacy. ...1 year ago
-
Final thoughts. - Back from honeymoon and time for Charlotte to admire her beautiful wedding day bonnet before storing it carefully away in the parsonage. After 34 days...1 year ago
-
Ambrotipia – Tesori dal Brontë Parsonage Museum - Continua la collaborazione tra The Sisters’ Room e il Brontë Parsonage Museum. Vi mostriamo perciò una serie di contenuti speciali, scelti e curati dire...2 years ago
-
-
ERROR: Tried to load source page, but remote server reported "500 Internal Server Error". -3 years ago
-
-
-
Two New Anne Brontë 200 Books – Out Now! - Anne was a brilliant writer (as well as a talented artist) so it’s great to see some superb new books…4 years ago
-
Brontë in media - Wist u dat? In de film ‘The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society’ gebaseerd op de gelijknamige briefroman, schrijft hoofdrolspeelster Juliet Ashto...4 years ago
-
Researching Emily Brontë at Southowram - A couple of weeks ago I took a wander to the district of Southowram, just a few miles across the hills from Halifax town centre, yet feeling like a vil...5 years ago
-
Handwriting envy - The opening facsimile of Charlotte Brontë’s hand for the opening of the novel is quite arresting. A double underlining emphasises with perfect clarity tha...6 years ago
-
Link: After that dust-up, first editions are dusted off for Brontë birthday - The leaden skies over Haworth could not have been more atmospheric as they set to work yesterday dusting off the first editions of Emily Brontë at the begi...6 years ago
-
Page wall post by Clayton Walker - Clayton Walker added a new photo to The Brontë Society's timeline.6 years ago
-
Page wall post by La Sezione Italiana della Brontë Society - La Sezione Italiana della Brontë Society: La Casa editrice L'Argolibro e la Sezione Italiana della Brontë Society in occasione dell'anno bicentenario dedi...6 years ago
-
Html to ReStructuredText-converter - Wallflux.com provides a rich text to reStructredText-converter. Partly because we use it ourselves, partly because rst is very transparent in displaying wh...6 years ago
-
Display Facebook posts in a WordPress widget - You can display posts from any Facebook page or group on a WordPress blog using the RSS-widget in combination with RSS feeds from Wallflux.com: https://www...6 years ago
-
charlottebrontesayings: To Walk Invisible - The Brontë Sisters,... - charlottebrontesayings: *To Walk Invisible - The Brontë Sisters, this Christmas on BBC* Quotes from the cast on the drama: *“I wanted it to feel...7 years ago
-
thegrangersapprentice: Reading Jane Eyre for English class.... - thegrangersapprentice: Reading Jane Eyre for English class. Also, there was a little competition in class today in which my teacher asked some really spe...8 years ago
-
5. The Poets’ Jumble Trail Finds - Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending with some friends a jumble trail in which locals sold old – and in some instances new – bits and bobs from their ...9 years ago
-
How I Met the Brontës - My first encounter with the Brontës occurred in the late 1990’s when visiting a bookshop offering a going-out-of -business sale. Several books previously d...10 years ago
-
-
Radio York - I was interviewed for the Paul Hudson Weather Show for Radio York the other day - i had to go to the BBC radio studios in Blackburn and did the interview...11 years ago
-
-
Short excerpt from an interview with Mia Wasikowska on the 2011 Jane Eyre - I really like what she says about the film getting Jane's age right. Jane's youth really does come through in the film.13 years ago
-
Emily Brontë « joignait à l’énergie d’un homme la simplicité d’un enfant ». - *Par **T. de Wyzewa.* C’est M. Émile Montégut qui, en même temps qu’il révélait au public français la vie et le génie de Charlotte Brontë, a le premier cit...14 years ago
-
CELEBRATION DAY - MEDIA RELEASE February 2010 For immediate release FREE LOCAL RESIDENTS’ DAY AT NEWLY REFURBISHED BRONTË MUSEUM This image shows the admission queue on the...14 years ago
-
Poetry Day poems - This poem uses phrases and lines written by visitors at the Bronte Parsonage Museum to celebrate National Poetry Day 2009, based on words chosen from Emily...15 years ago
Podcasts
-
-
S2 E1: With... Jenny Mitchell - Welcome back to Behind the Glass with this early-release first episode of series 2 ! Sam and new co-host Connie talk to prize-winning poet Jenny Mitchell...1 week ago
Subscriptions
Brontë Parsonage X
Brontë Studies X
Other Stuff
Click to join BRONTE
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Site archived by the British Library - UK Web Archiving Consortium
0 comments:
Post a Comment