Jane Eyre and Cathy on the stage

Broadway World reviews ArtsWest's Jane Eyre.

The ten person cast is a tight-knit group with several people playing multiple roles. From top to bottom, this cast can sing. Chelsa LeValley as Jane Eyre is perfectly at home. The power of her voice matches the inner fire of her character. She provides shades of dreaminess and fortitude. Louis Hobson's Rochester is powerful and charming, making him much more likeable than the character in the book. Seattle is lucky to enjoy this caliber of artist in such an intimate setting. Zoe Foster as Helen Burns reminds us how powerful tenderness can be in a cruel world. Just as Jane continued to remember her, I'm sure you will too. It's not the first time I've seen her take a supporting role and fill it with meaning. She did the same in Anne of Green Gables last year at SecondStory Rep.
Tatum Poirrier continues to delight audiences with her smooth voice and spunk. I especially enjoyed her portrayal of Adèle, Mr. Rochester's ward. I wish her version of young Jane Eyre had been less like Adèle and more like the adult Jane. It would have been nice to see more of a connection in the two. Mikko Juan appears in a variety of small roles, but it is his performance as St. John Rivers that will totally catch you off guard. This character that is normally considered as a way to fill time until Jane gets back to Rochester becomes interesting in his own right. He sees Jane and her inherent goodness and offers her a different path by way of a most beautiful song. Speaking of beautiful songs, I See My Maker, is one of those rare moments in a show when the audience holds its collective breath. Aaron Norman's falsetto was itself the sound of angels. As the song progressed and Norman unleashed the full power of his voice upon us, an involuntary shiver took hold of me. It was an honor to witness such a pure moment of beauty. Kudos to Music Director Chris DiStefano who had the foresight to see that this song should be in Norman's hands. It is usually sung by Jane, but the purity of the moment was only enhanced by the delicate sounds wafting over her collapsed body.
Scenic design by Lex Marcos provided a versatile setting for the entire show. However, the people in the side seats were occasionally left with obstructed views from the stairs and upper platform. The costumes by Siri Nelson were a bit of a mix. Some characters were in complete period dress while others wore more modern stuff. I'm not sure if there was a reason for the inconsistency. But once I stopped studying it trying to find a reason, it didn't bother me as much. Director Matthew Wright has configured a staging that uses the ensemble well and spreads the action to all corners of the space. The transitions move quickly, and the story unfolds in a very measured manner. There is great restraint and control in the production, much like in Jane herself. Winnowed of tangential story lines and songs, the chamber version presents the story of Jane Eyre that is focused on the heart of the story. (Kelly Rogers Flynt)

TCS gives 5 stars to the play Cathy.

Michael Bascom’s haunting musical adaption of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, directed by Jade Franks, captivates from the opening scene and keeps its audience transfixed until the very end of the tragic love story between Cathy and Heathcliff. These two characters are central  to each other’s very understanding of existence, but Heathcliff’s vengeful and violent nature is never far from the surface of this production.
The beautiful simplicity of the set and costumes are effective in emphasising the passionate emotions running through the play. Against a dark backdrop and white costumes, the only colour present on-stage is the red of the sashes worn by Cathy and Heathcliff, visually uniting them and symbolising the ardent love they feel for each other, the depth of which no other character in the play can fully comprehend. [...]
Bascom has composed a highly emotive score for the play, which is performed live, tenderly expressing the passion between Cathy and Heathcliff, a love so deep that it cannot be fully defined using words alone. One notable example is the delicacy and emotion of the music playing whilst Cathy declares her feelings for Heathcliff. The melody intensifies the meaning of her words, undoubtedly affecting every member of the audience.
All five actors give extremely compelling performances, performing with natural chemistry. Maryam Dorudi, as Cathy, performs with admirable passion and spirit, and sings especially beautifully, enchanting the audience with the purity of her voice. William Batty is also outstanding as Heathcliff, successfully conveying the raw emotions felt so strongly by his character. [...]
Overall, this musical is a highly moving production, brilliantly depicting the tragedy and passion of Brontë’s novel, which is set over 30 years, in a performance which lasts only an hour. The intensity of Cathy and Heathcliff’s relationship is successfully portrayed with authentic emotion, leaving the audience compelled to believe that their love exists beyond the ephemeral world; it is their very souls that are connected. (Eleanor Antoniou)

A contributor to College Magazine discusses how books help her 'escape from the pressures of college'.

In college, I have started to transition to novels that pertain to looking at life and discoveries about oneself. I now gravitate towards Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë or A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. These narratives showed me new things about life. They’ve taught me to take risks regardless of what others might think, to believe in myself when no one else will and to have patience for my time to come. (Katherine Menendez)

The Gospel Coalition recommends '8 Works of Fiction Every Christian Should Read', including

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Despite its title and popular reputation, this Victorian masterpiece by Charlotte Brontë is not a girly romance. It is, as I have written before, a powerful story of the individual’s modern quest to discern and heed one’s authentic calling and identity. And because the character of Jane is a Christian, her narrative about overcoming the obstacles to fulfilling her Christian calling is one every Christian reader—male or female—can relate to and learn from. The theme of the book can be found in Jane’s words at her greatest moment of conflict: “I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give.” (Karen Swallow Prior)

We never knew that the title of Jane Eyre implied that it was a 'girly romance', though.

Sin embargo (Mexico) reviews the recent Spanish translation of Joanna Russ's How To Suppress Women's Writing.

La autora defiende que no es casual que el mito del logro aislado promueva las obras de peor calidad de las escritoras como si fuesen su mejor trabajo. Como ejemplo: Jane Eyre, de Charlotte Brönte [sic] -“una historia de amor porque las mujeres deberían escribir historias de amor”-, frente a Vilette [sic], “una larga meditación sobre la fuga carcelaria”. (Translation)

What?! Something was definitely lost there as, last time checked, Villette was definitely not about escape from prison!

The Washington Times reviews the biography Anthony Powell: Dancing to the Music of Time by Hilary Spurling.

Biographies written by a friend of the subject have warmth and immediacy — often a sparkling immediacy. Think of Boswell on Johnson, or Elizabeth Gaskell on Charlotte Brontë. (Claire Hopley)

The Economist wonders whether 'Kate Bush [was] the last of Britain’s avant-garde hitmakers'.

Ms Bush had little truck with artistic compromise: she fought her record company’s choice of a debut single, opting instead for the billowing “Wuthering Heights”, which carried her vocal range, exaggerated mannerisms and love of dramatic narrative to number one in the singles chart. She disregarded many of the usual strategies of music promotion, most notably live performance (Ms Bush undertook one series of concerts in 1979, and got around to a second in 2014). (Prospero)

A columnist on Stuff (New Zealand) wonders what to do with her large garden.

Where does one start when one faces a 20-metre stretch of luscious and voluptuous growth? Listen to me, for goodness sake, my language has gone all Jane Eyre to match this daunting diva of a garden bed. (Carly Thomas)

Echo (Australia) reviews the film Patrick.

A series of lame gags ensue as the pair get to know each other – yes, he eats her slippers and trashes the flat – but before long the story finds its groove and manages to surprise with subtle romantic twists and old-fashioned teen classroom dynamics as Sarah tries to get the kids interested in Jane Eyre. (John Campbell)