Jane/Eyre in Denver. You on the Moors Now in Puget Sound

Several alerts for today, February 23:

At the Puget Sound University, WA:

You On The Moors Now
by Jaclyn Backhaus
directed by Prof. Jess K Smith

Performance dates:
Feb. 23 - 24, 2018, Mar. 1 - 2, 7:30 p.m.
Mar. 3, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Norton Clapp Theatre, Jones Hall

Suburban Times adds:

The play, performed by University of Puget Sound theatre arts students, opens with the heroines from Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre running from their marriage proposals. The men don’t take rejection well and respond by waging a war—the “Moors War.”
Through ridiculous wordplay, hilarious banter, and heightened stakes, playwright Jaclyn Backhaus navigates a playful contention with the gender norms of the 19th century.
“Thisultimately moving and inventive play ends in beautiful prose, like a chapter from the books where these women originated—asking us all to reconsider how we love, how we grieve, and maybe, just maybe, if female friendships can be enough,” says director Jess K Smith, assistant professor of theatre arts at Puget Sound.

In Denver, CO:

Grapefruit Lab presents
Jane/Eyre
Author/musician, Miriam Suzanne
Director Julie Rada
Original music by Teacup Gorilla and Dameon Merkl

Feb 23, 2018 – Mar 3, 2018 The Bakery

Songs and stories from Jane Eyre: a queer adaptation of the classic novel.

This is not for persons who hold solemn doctrines about the angelic nature of literature or theater: but we are not here to flatter egotism, or prop up humbug; we are merely telling the story. We value what is good in books; but we believe in the existence of other, and more vivid kinds of goodness. It is narrow-minded to say that we ought to confine ourselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags.

InFocus interviews Miriam Suzanne:

Eden Lane: What was is about Jane Eyre that inspired you to create this as your first full-length show?
MS: Julie has loved Jane Eyre since she read it in school. When she proposed it as one of several options, Miriam had to do some research to get caught up – and fell in love quickly. (Julie Rada clarified: “I didn’t read it in high school. I read it a few years ago for fun.”)
We were excited by the first-person, internal perspective of a woman growing up – a format that jumps quickly between exposition, private emotional ruminations, and cutting political statements. This is complex woman, trying to find independence in a world that won’t allow it. She’s acutely aware of power, privilege, and class in every moment – and willing to step outside the story to address it.
Meanwhile, she’s just a kid growing up: falling in love, experiencing heart-break for the first time, and pondering death, religion, and forgiveness. She’s in the action, and also looking back on it. This wild mix of personal and political, action and reflection, is how life feels to me – and I find that interesting to explore. We highlight it in production by having two Jane’s on-stage, passing the story between very personal moments, and outside commentary or narration. Lindsey Pierce plays in the action, with Miriam commenting as she provides underscore with the band.
For the second edition of the novel, Charlotte Brontë (as Currer Bell) writes a scathing preface – a defense of her character against pious critique – and then suddenly wanders off into a tangent about her favorite author: William Thackeray. The books has an attitude, and an agenda, in addition to an interesting character. We love the tangents as well as the layered authorship – Brontë writing as Bell, who writes as Jane, narrating from 10-20 years in the future. So we put Brontë on stage as well, played by Julie – sometimes defending her work, and sometimes commenting on it from a more contemporary perspective.