Help Jane in Columbus

If you wish to help the Brontë cause, now you can donate towards a stage adaptation of Jane Eyre in Columbus, OH and get benefits further down the line. Check their kickstarter webpage (14 days to go):

[Daniel Elihu] Kramer returns to Columbus and Available Light Theatre AVLT for an adaptation of another popular classic. Jane Eyre: An Autobiography will be a faithful retelling of the novel, through the lens of personal, contemporary experiences with the book. Available Light will collaborate with Mr. Kramer in a series of workshops and interviews (already begun) finishing in May 2013 with a brand-new production, directed by Acacia Dunan (who played Lizzie in Pride & Prejudice) debuting at the Vern Riffe Center's Studio One theater in downtown Columbus. This production will be designed to tour, and will begin playing in venues outside of downtown Columbus in 2014.

Why is "Jane Eyre" so beloved? What has the novel meant to its readers in the past? What does it mean now? How is Jane's story universal and how is it deeply personal?

Says the playwright, "I'm excited to be working again with Available Light Theatre, and to be turning our attention to "Jane Eyre." I love the ways we work together to find a path into a story. "Jane Eyre" is such a solitary book. It follows a very private main character, and readers' experiences of the book tend to be very personal and private as well. 'Reader,' she says. She needs to share her life with us. It's been beautiful to hear how, in their own solitary times, Jane has spoken to so many people. Charlotte Brontë, speaking as Jane, writes "A new chapter in a novel is something like a new scene in a play." Together with Available Light Theatre, I'm excited to bring Jane's voice to the stage."

In addition, this production will be part of our successful Pay What You Want program, recipient of a special citation from the Central Ohio Theatre Critics Circle. In its continued efforts to break down practical barriers between theatre-goers and the theater itself, we encourages attendance by low-income populations (which, crucially, includes youth and students) with this program.