Site-specific designer Emeline Beroud has hung several significant items on red ropes above the stage: keys, school books, maps, a wedding veil, a bare branch and a chalkboard with LIAR written on it. On the back, the chalkboard reads Helen Burns 1821-1835. These items, plus an old school desk, are the only set. Keys, red threads, and ropes are recurring motifs, variously representing the freedom, empowerment, disempowerment, fire…The first distinct character we encounter is Bertha Mason, Edward Rochester’s first wife, who is famously imprisoned in the attic. Contemporary dancer Steffi Fashokun gives a powerful, poignant and silently persuasive performance as the troubled and enigmatic Bertha. She is continually present throughout the first half on a mezzanine balcony, where she appears, like Penelope or the tower-bound Lady of Shalott, to be weaving a tapestry or visceral rag rug in various shades of red. Tapestry Maker Juliette Georges has created an extraordinary artwork for Fashokun to run mad with. Movement director Alex Gotch effectively creates an alternative narrative for her through expressive choreography. (Phoebe Tablin in Thr Reviews Hub)
Joubert wrote in an expansive, late romantic style with the music for Jane and Rochester full blooded and open hearted. And he gave their scenes plenty of space, which of course meant that the rest of the plot had to whistle past. At the moment the opera has too many smaller characters who either appear very briefly or seem to play little part at all. The programme book listed 12 singing characters, plus Steffi Fashokun in the silent role of Rochester's first wife, Berthe Mason.
Eleanor Burke seems to have made the decision to assume that we did know the book. Before a word was sung, Steffi Fashokun was presented as Berthe and throughout the first act she was strong presence despite the fact that the presence of Berthe in the attic was not explained until Act Two. This felt like a dramatic device introduced by Burke as an admission that the dramaturgy of the opera does not quite work.
That said, the performances by the two leads, Laura Mekhail and Hector Bloggs were both full blooded and engaging. Mekhail brought a contained intensity to Jane, making you remember that in the book the character is fierce with sharp edges. Mekhail's voice is lyric but she revealed enough underlying strength to make the big scenes work. The opera really requires a soprano who can power through and make Jane's music soar and Mekhail made a fine attempt in the small space of the Arcola Theatre Studio. She was well partnered by Hector Bloggs, who revealed a fine romantic baritone even if his stage presence was a bit stiff. This Rochester did not quite brood enough, but Bloggs made up with his vocal quality. (Robert Hugill in Planet Hugill)
Eleanor Burke’s direction and Emeline Beroud’s set and costumes help create a rich visual world in which these tense interpersonal dynamics play out. The production design centres on the red threads of fate and destiny which at times trap and pull each character in different directions. Above the stage, in her attic, Bertha Mason works at a blood red tapestry, like a modern-day Penelope weaving in captivity. Hanging from the ceiling are several props representing key moments or themes from Jane’s life, and characters interact with these at key points in the show. Within the minimal yet intimate space of the Arcola, these props help create a tangible landscape evoking the 19th century world of the novel. The immediacy of the small cast singing so closely to the audience also allowed the singers to play with a much greater dynamic range than some traditional operas in a larger space. (leahj in A Young(ish) Perspective)
The staging is a bit of a mixed bag: there’s a lot of fun rushing about, particularly when Polistina joins us for a confessional moment in the audience at one point, but it’s unclear why asides using a microphone are different from the rest of the straight-to-audience pieces throughout, and getting back and forth to the mic slackens the pace a bit. There’s a rather funny visual gag on the screen near the end which could possibly work even better with a bit of quick-change action onstage, making the most of Polisitina’s high-energy switching between characters; it would certainly give her more flexibility in that section’s delivery. But we are in a function room above a pub, and it’s a free show, so ultimately the production team has done well with limited resources. Plucky, indeed.Jane Eyre Wasn’t a Whore will play especially well with die-hard Brontë fans (reader, I among them) who know all the in-references, but it could equally introduce a generation of heartsick comedy fans to the fact that 150-year-old novels have the perfect advice for when he/she/they won’t text you back. Part of the PBH Free Fringe, so have your shillings ready at the end of the performance. (Caitlin McDonald)
If space is very tight, then roses can work well in pots, so long as you water them: “Olivia Rose Austin thrives in a pot, as does Emily Brontë, and Kew Gardens. The latter will bloom all summer.” (Boudicca Fox-Leonard)
Sounds like fun!Fun is one word for it. Bonkers is another – the film featured several hair-raising scenes, including a “can’t be unseen” finale. (Ed Power)
Finally, take a closer look at Branwell Brontë’s painting with conservator David Everingham on the Brontë Parsonage Facebook Wall.
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