Jane Eyre in Charleston

Polly Teale's Jane Eyre opens today, May 22, in Charleston, West Virginia:

Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë
Adapted by Polly Teale

Charleston Stage Company
Thursday-Saturday, May 22-24, 29-31, 2008 @ 8:00 PM

Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences of West Virginia
One Clay Square
Charleston, WV

Jane Eyre is obscure and plain but locked up in the attic of her imagination lives a woman so passionate, so wild, so full of longing, she must be guarded night and day for fear of the havoc she would wreak. Teale's stunning visual imagery and powerful style transform Bronte's great novel into deeply affecting drama.

EDIT:

The Charleston Daily Mail gives more information:

Seeing Charlotte Bronte's novel, "Jane Eyre," brought to life in an intimate setting - 400 seats will be placed around three sides of the stage - gives the audience an opportunity for a different theater experience, said director David Wohl. (...)
The show presents challenges for everyone from scene designers to actors.
Troy Snyder, the set and lighting designer, said he started with a set of "brown plans," or drawings of the theater that are on the Clay Center's Web site.
"With this kind of thrust staging, you can't have a whole lot of scenery," he said. "You tell a lot more of the story with sound and light cues. The lighting has to be a little more elaborate than usual."
Snyder, an assistant professor of theater at Fairmont State University, welcomes the challenge, however, because of what it offers the audience.
"Because of the way we've all been visually trained with movies, we like to be close to the action," he said. "So there's been this movement in theater in the last 50 years or so to do that, too. And this is one way of doing that." (...)
Director David Wohl confers with Troy Snyder, his lighting and set designer, during a rehearsal for “Jane Eyre,” being produced by the Charleston Stage Company in partnership with the Clay Center. The show, which opens tonight, is being performed on a thrust stage with the audience seated on three sides. Despite its challenges for setting, lights and even makeup, Wohl said he loves producing shows like this because it gives the audience an intimate view of the show.
Wohl said this kind of staging sometimes intimidates the actors as much as anyone.
"I think the major challenge is that actors don't tend to work in intimate settings. Here, literally, you've got the stage, a 4-foot aisle and then the first row of seats. If a big guy's putting his legs out, you're going to trip.
"That's a challenge for actors in some regard. From my purposes, though, it's a tremendous opportunity. The theater that has always excited me over the years is the kind where there's a very intimate setting.
"It can be, I think if you're not used to it, a little intimidating. Once you get used to it, it's intoxicating."
Challenges extend to every person involved in the production. Makeup, for example, has to be more subtle than it would be if the actors were standing 50 feet or more away from the audience. Costumes must have every detail taken care of - a safety pin could be seen from close quarters.
Lighting has to be designed to utilize equipment placed at different angles than if it were being projected from far away.
And surprisingly, actors have to learn to project their voices differently. They are elevated - a stage on the stage - and there is no curtain behind them.
"The sound goes directly up, so you have as many challenges (projecting), sometimes more so. I was telling my actors last night that when they're up on the platform, they really have to project."
Elaine Tapley plays Jane. Chris Terpening is Rochester, Marlette Carter is Bertha and Kelly Strom is Mrs. Fairfax. Other cast members include Taylor Horst, Terry Terpening, Joe Miller, Jim Stacy and Courtney Flint. (Monica Orosz)

Categories: Jane Eyre, Theatre