JMU's Jane Eyre

A new production of Polly Teale's Jane Eyre opens today, November 6 in the JMU (James Madison University) School of Theatre and Dance (Harrisonburg, Virginia):

Jane Eyre,
adapted by Polly Teale
Tuesday – Saturday;
Nov. 6 – 10, 2007 8 p.m.
Latimer-Shaeffer Theatre

In 1836 Charlotte Brontë sent British Poet Laureate Robert Southey some of her poems for consideration, to which he replied, “Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life, and it ought not to be.” In light of such sentiments, Polly Teale’s adaptation of Brontë’s Jane Eyre emerges as a passionate enquiry into how Jane can be true to herself as she struggles against the bondage of Victorian constraints while searching for an acceptable outlet for her fiery impulses. Teale’s dramatization uses inventive production techniques and musical underscoring to produce a theatrical experience that has delighted audiences in London and New York. Reviews hailed the production as “striking and imaginative” (The Guardian), “a riveting exploration of female passion” (Evening Standard), that “takes your breath away” – Robert William.

The Harrisonburg Daily Record gives more details:

For devotees of Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre,” James Madison University’s production of the Victorian classic will not disappoint, says director Roger Hall.
“I think fans of the novel will be amazed at how faithfully the play tells the story in just two hours,” he said.
‘A Natural Production’
By his own design, Hall will have the chance to find out just what readers of the novel thought after the play wraps. He saw Polly Teale’s adaptation of “Jane Eyre” performed in London while on a trip with JMU students, and realized it was “a natural production for a college campus” with “a natural academic tie-in.”
Upon returning to campus, he contacted the English department chair to see if anyone wanted to teach a class on Brontë this semester. English professor Annette Federico volunteered. The class, entitled “The Brontës,” has 19 undergraduate and three graduate students enrolled, as well as several actors from the play who are auditing the class “to soak up the Victorian atmosphere,” said Federico.
Joel Adam Gerlach, 20, who plays Eyre’s love interest Rochester, sat in on the class for a few weeks, finding the background information beneficial to his character development. “[The class] gave us good insight into how the Victorian era was in regards to governesses, how they were normally treated, the almost taboo relationship between [Jane] and Rochester,” said the musical theater major.
Students in class are reading works by all three Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Anne and Emily, as well as discussing revisions and rewrites of the Brontë sisters’ works. Federico will attend the play, and has it “folded into the syllabus” that all her students must go as well. “I’m having a great time,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to [the play].”
“Jane Eyre” runs at 8 p.m. on Nov. 6-10 in JMU’s Latimer-Shaeffer Theatre. The following week, Hall will visit Federico’s class to talk about the script, differences from the novel and the decisions behind them. “The hope is that, after the production, some of the cast members who’ve been sitting in will come in … and do a reading,” Federico said.
From Book To Stage
Having read Teale’s stage adaptation of “Jane Eyre,” Federico calls it a “modern reinvention true to the spirit of the book.”
The play is “very close to the original,” she says. “The most interesting thing [Teale] does is externalizes Bertha Mason as a doppelganger of Jane, a sort of enraged woman inside of Jane.”
In the novel, Mason is the mentally ill wife of Rochester, whom he hides in his attic. “Bertha is a character haunting Jane at important moments in her life,” said Federico.
Those who’ve read the novel “will be challenged by the way the adaptor, Polly Teale, incorporates an alter-ego character,” said Hall. “That’s really one of the fascinating aspects and pretty much only way she takes liberties with the script. There is a fair amount of critical commentary talking about similarities [between Eyre and Mason]. [Teale] wasn’t inventing that out of whole cloth herself.”
Strong Female Roles
Impressed with the London production of “Jane Eyre,” Hall knew the play would be fitting for JMU, not only for its academic connection, but because it has a “cast of five really good [women’s] roles,” which is a benefit to a theater department where the majority of students are female.
Senior Lauren Meyer, 21, who plays Jane Eyre, appreciates being in a play with with so many strong female roles. “It’s fantastic for our department. It’s rare to get a strong female lead, and strong female cast around it,” she said. “It’s rare to find so many opportunities for females. The other four girls get to play so many parts.”
It’s been a “fairly long rehearsal period” for junior Julie Schroll, 20, who plays four different characters, because of the need to get used to changing parts. She found it beneficial to “read the novel as a resource, instead of having to make up background for our characters. Brontë gave us a lot.”
Theatrical Interpretation
Although Schroll says the play cannot encompass every aspect of the novel, Brontë’s message will still come across. “It’s been helpful having the novel [for reference],” said the musical theater major. “We can fill in all the spaces and convey them to the audience, even when the lines don’t give you as much information.”
She also recommends the show for people who have not read the novel. “They almost might enjoy it more,” she said. “This version is an interesting adaptation. It’s very experimental.”
Adding to the experimental atmosphere, Hall will be using a live musician for only the second time as a director. History major Grisha Kramer, 20, will play the cello throughout the production. “There are times when he just plucks notes, creates a Spanish sound, hits the side [of his cello] to make the noise of heart beats,” said Hall. He’s “creating a soundscape, like a landscape, that supports the action and emotional content of the play.
“It’s moving, emotionally moving, a really powerful romantic story, and it will be theatrically inventive and creative.”
Gerlach believes audiences will be surprised by the performance. “People are really going to enjoy it,” he said. “It’s an unexpected twist on the classic story of Jane Eyre.” (Elizabeth Rome)

More information can be found in The Breeze, the JMU's student newspaper.

Categories: Jane Eyre, Theatre