Wentworth Miller's thesis and other news

China Daily has a lengthy article on Jane Eyre in China in general and the Beijing stage production of Jane Eyre in particular:

Chen Shu is best known for playing high-society courtesans. So her turn as the title role in Jane Eyre, currently at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA), came as a surprise.
She embodies the role of the governess of Thornfield Manor so thoroughly that the moment she walks on stage there is nothing left of that elegant and coquettish image often associated with her.
She starts as a restrained and self-conscious young woman, but somewhere around the middle of the play, when she confronts her employer Edward Rochester with her understanding of love it is an emotional roller coaster all the way through to the end.
The power of her performance was so overwhelming that at the dress rehearsal I attended many in the audience were moved to tears.
Most educated Chinese know Jane Eyre through translations of the classic and some of the screen adaptations - the one starring George C Scott and Susannah York, in 1970, stands out for its stellar dubbing job.
The NCPA production owes much to this movie. Yet it is a thoroughly original and ingenious production. In a sense, this stage version is more cinematic than the film. The plot is tighter and more fluid and Jane's childhood appears in flashbacks, which makes it more poignant.
"I play Jane as someone with great inner power," said Chen in a post-performance interview.
During the play's widely acclaimed first run earlier this year, Yuan Quan, another actress also known mostly for her film and television work, got the whole town talking. But Chen was not intimidated. "I'll bring my own interpretation to the role."
Chen first read the literary classic at the age of 14, "when I was at dance school". Like most awkward teenagers, she identified with the protagonist because of the quiet suffering, the lack of love, care and respect. "This is a part that had a huge impact on those born in China in the 1960s all through the early 80s," she said.
Jane Eyre resonates with contemporary Chinese for her fiercely independent mind and her demand for respect. Her decision to leave Rochester after she learns of the existence of his wife stands in sharp contrast with the prevailing notion in China that women fare better being a paramour to a man with wealth and property than marrying for love alone.
"I identify with Jane Eyre because I share her inner world," Chen said. Her previous stage role was Chen Bailu, a 1930s courtesan, in Sunrise (), one of China's best-known plays. She played the gold-digger with a heart of gold. After that run, critics called her the "definitive" Chen Bailu.
Yet, deep in her heart, there is a Jane Eyre lurking. "I didn't know I'd be offered this role. I was given only 10 days to rehearse - with a team that was already immersed in it. But I jumped at the opportunity because it is such a rich role and I could get under the skin and recreate her faith and integrity," Chen said.
Chen did not start by playing courtesans. Twelve years ago, she made her speaking-role stage debut in another show with a governess. For full disclosure, I was one of the producers and directors of The Sound of Music, and one of my jobs was to find the "seven von Trapp kids".
China's education system favors specialization. The result is, those who are trained to sing cannot dance, and those who dance cannot act. But I needed actors who could sing, dance and act.
Chen was a trained dancer and a natural singer. She could handle I'm 16 Going on 17 with aplomb. But could she act? It was a pleasant surprise.
"You gave me a sheet of dialogue. After I read it through, you gave the part to me," she recalled. This was a detail I did not quite remember, but I knew she was perfect for the role of von Trapp's eldest daughter.
I can't take the credit for "discovering" Chen the star, however. Like Zhang Ziyi, she quit her dance career and enrolled at the Central Academy of Drama. She emerged as a serious actress with a string of television roles, some of which were huge successes.
While watching her Jane Eyre, I thought it is ironic how things turn out sometimes: Chen started her acting career by playing the daughter and now she has graduated to the governess, though in different plays. It has come full circle.
Jane Eyre is at NCPA until Dec 23. (Raymond Zhou) (Picture source)

Speaking of Jane Eyre stage adaptations, a few days ago we posted Bob Hoover's review of PICT's. But not everyone agrees with him, as this letter to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from one of its readers shows:

The Post-Gazette needs a drama critic. The current melange of reviewers leaves this theater lover heartsick and confused. In a city with a wealth of rich dramatic productions, the Post-Gazette's lack of a drama critic is unforgivable.
Yes, I know that print media, newspapers in particular, are in extreme financial distress, but this approach is penny-wise and pound-foolish. I find myself turning to City Paper and the Tribune-Review online for dependable reviews of current plays. Bob Hoover is a terrific book reviewer but appears to take on the role of curmudgeon when approaching theater. Time and again I read reviews he has written that would lead me to avoid a play, and then I see the actual production and I am charmed (Quantum's "Candide" and PICT's "Jane Eyre" are two recent examples).
I also appreciate a critic whose voice is consistent and insightful, replete with years of love of and immersion in theater. When the PG lost its longtime restaurant and classical music critics, you found impressive young voices that have enriched my experience of food and concerts in this city. Please do the same for theater. (Mary Ellen Hoy)

And something quite interesting from a Daily Princetonian blog. They have browsed through the senior thesis online database and have come up with a few celebrities' papers.

Wentworth Miller (star of network TV show "Prison Break)- Doubling and the Identity Construct in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper," Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.

The thesis is dated 1995.

Finally, the Tottenham Journal reports a local poll:

. . . at The Big Green Bookshop, in Brampton Park Road, Wood Green, where literary fans can also browse a list of the top 50 books of all time as voted by the shop's readers.
They named J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of The Rings the all time favourite, followed by Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Jane Austin's [sic] Pride and Prejudice, Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and the only American classic of the top five Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird.

On the blogosphere, Musings and Machinations posts about her love for Jane Eyre. And a couple of blogs in Portuguese write about Wuthering Heights: Literatura Inglesa e Norte Americana and Batata Transgênica.

Categories: Jane Eyre, Scholar, Theatre, Wuthering Heights