Reviews and announcements

A couple of reviews and an announcement:

Nancy McClernan, author and director of the new Jane Eyre theatrical adaptation now on stage in New York (and for which we have an special promotion going on) has left a comment in a previous entry where, among other things, she brings our attention to a new review from nytheater.com:

Jane Eyre is a well-loved character in and out of Charlotte Bronte's 1847 novel where she, plain looking, plain-spoken, and plainly wronged, carves out a life of purpose for herself wherever fate sends her. I love Jane Eyre. So it is hard for me not to warm up to a production that is affectionate for her reserved demeanor and sympathetic toward her steely spine and strict principles. Such is the case in Mergatroyd Production's Jane Eyre, adapted and directed by N.G. McClernan. Alas, although the play is energetically performed by all onstage, the tone, texture, and interpretation of this production didn't entirely work for me. In short, I didn't fall in love with it, which I expected to going in, being already in love with the source material.
The play tells only the part in the novel about the relationship formed between the two protagonists, Jane Eyre and Mr. Edward Rochester. Jane is hired as a governess by Mrs. Alice Fairfax, housekeeper of Thornfield Manor, for Rochester's ward. Jane and Rochester forge a bond despite their 20-year age difference and disparate social standing. But secrets and personal choices will force them apart. Jane leaves and by chance finds her cousin, St. John Rivers, who pursues her for his missionary work. The first scene is a flashforward to one of the key moments in the story—Jane bids farewell to Rochester after their botched wedding. Then the tale goes back to their first encounter and subsequent romance.
Clocking in at two and half hours, this adaptation finds key plot moments and breaks them down into short and quick scenes, some of them rather simplistic, others impressionistic, with as little as a few lines or gestures. These scenes are more cinematic than theatrical in nature—a couple of them even feel shorter than the scene change in between. This translates to a fragmented experience in which tension and suspense is hard to sustain. McClernan uses an array of clever devices to visualize the introverted narrative from the novel, and injects a few interesting twists toward the end. She also attempts humor and levity, something rarely done in the adaptation of Jane Eyre.
Yet one vital thing is missing from the flurry, and that's the emotional intensity between Jane and Rochester. Since this adaptation confines itself entirely to the love story, it is essential that this love come to life and sear through the oppressive doom of social censure and cruel fate. However, the progression of their relationship is not convincing; there lies in it very little connection between them. The rapid pacing and choppy script contribute further to a sense of superficiality and incompletion. While carried out with thought and proficiency, the play feels temperamentally scattered and abrupt. It's telling a canny, effervescent tale that should have been both delicate and impassioned. Other crucial ingredients are also largely absent: tormented souls, erotic longing, looming violence and disaster, and a genuine battle between one's desire and the social norm.
That being said, the performers are very competent and often sparkling, with most of them pulling double roles. Mary Murphy makes an earnest, and sunnier than usual, Jane. Alice Connorton's Fairfax is warm and full-fleshed. Nat Cassidy's St. John is nuanced and particularly affecting. While I'd like Rochester to be a lot darker in temper and mood, Greg Oliver Bodine's verbal delivery is smooth and refined.
Worth noting, also, is the fact that my companions—four in all—enjoyed the play. Where I found lack of depth and feeling they saw clarity and variety. Maybe this is what happens to someone such as myself who has loved the book and tried to see every adaptation available: there are particular sensations I look for, and the book leaves very large shoes to fill indeed. (Kat Chamberlain)

The Chicago Tribune reviews the Dance COLEctive's performances of Second Journeys which we presented some days ago:

Death, decay, mortality. These are the ideas that permeate "Second Journeys," the Dance COLEctive program running through Saturday at the Dance Center of Columbia College. It implies travel to another dimension -- even deep within one's own soul. But, ironically, the macabre tone builds to an uplifting finale.
Margi Cole's reworking of her 2005 full-length, Bronte sisters-themed "Written on the Body" is the evening's centerpiece. (...)
The second half is devoted to Cole's multimedia sextet "Written on the Body," inspired by British authors Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte and their early strategy of writing under male pseudonyms. But it's more accurately a stark and stately dance reflection -- albeit sometimes too drowsily dirgelike -- on sacrifice and the imaginative spirit. (Lucia Mauro)

Broadway World announces the Alan Stanford's Jane Eyre revival at the Guthrie Theatre for next month:

The Guthrie today announced that audiences will have another opportunity to see Jane Eyre when its popular stage adaptation of the classic Charlotte Brontë novel returns for a limited engagement in March 2008. The production, directed by Associate Artistic Director John Miller-Stephany, will play 20 performances on the Wurtele Thrust Stage from March 8 – 30. Tickets are priced from $29 to $59 and are on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE and online at www.guthrietheater.org.
Twin Cities actress Stacia Rice will return to play the title character opposite Sean Haberle's Edward Rochester, in the stirring adaptation by Alan Stanford, whose version of Pride and Prejudice also earned rave reviews from audiences and critics alike when it was mounted at the Guthrie in 2003.
Stanford introduces the audience to Jane Eyre at three ages: as a child of 12, a young woman of 18 and as a 50-year-old woman writing her memoirs, which serves as the framing and narrative device for the production. Margaret Daly and Lucy Lawton will return to play Jane Senior and Child Jane, respectively. (...)
The 30-member Jane Eyre 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) and Peter Thomson (Lord Ingram/Briggs). Sean Michel Dooley replaces John Skelly in the role of Davie for this return engagement.
In addition to Lawton, 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) join the children's cast, with Dana Clausen, Paul McGuire and Glen Stone serving as essentials for the production.
The artistic staff includes Patrick Clark (Set and Costume Designer), Matthew Reinert (Lighting Designer), Andrew Cooke (Composer), 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).

Categories: Dance, Jane Eyre, Theatre