.
What might be more surprising is that its director, the co-artistic director who has guided A Noise Within’s mission for 34 years, hadn’t read the novel until after encountering the script that adapts the gothic tale from 1847.
Geoff Elliott had heard of Elizabeth Williamson’s adaptation of “Jane Eyre,” but he said he had never been required to read the original book in school, and he hadn’t picked it up since then — at least not until he read the script.
“I was so gobsmacked by it that I immediately got the book and started reading it,” Elliott said. “I couldn’t put it down. I read through it three times before I knew I had read through it three times.” [...]
“It’s one of the most astounding love stories,” Elliott said. “There’s so much going on between them, so much unspoken, so much that they are trying to guess at in terms of each other and really having no idea how the other person is feeling. It finally comes out in the most beautiful way.”
It soon entered A Noise Within’s season, dubbed “True Grit. The series focuses on survival and achievement by people who are trapped in difficult situations and fight their way out. It is a theme that Brontë and the hero of her novel embody. Jane, the story’s eponymous heroine, has no means and overcomes significant obstacles through her intelligence, determination and spirit.
It reflects much of what Brontë experienced: a woman of limited means whose mother and two older sisters died when she was young, and she died during pregnancy at the age of 38, outliving her two younger sisters.
“She’s a genius,” Elliott said. “What she went through as a child, what life was like for her as a young woman with no means whatsoever, and what she was able to achieve with that brilliant mind is unbelievable.” [...]
Elliott said the adaptation succeeds so well because of its fidelity to Brontë’s story. While Williamson condenses the action to fit the stage format, Elliott noted that very few words in the script are not Brontë’s.
“This adaptation just flows — it feels like a river flowing because it just doesn’t stop,” Elliott said.
“It has such a forward momentum and it really is an actor’s play. There is not a lot of big gimmicks with set pieces. The adaptation very much is thinking of the performers and that was very attractive to me.”
Jeanne Syquia [...] plays Jane. [...]
Opposite her as Mr. Rochester is Frederick “Freddy” Stuart, a resident artist of A Noise Within [...].
“They were born to play these roles — that’s really what it comes down to,” Elliott said. “I’ve worked with Jeanne a couple of times recently. I’m so impressed because she’s so talented. She’s not only funny, she’s nuanced. She has an enigmatic quality to her. Once I knew I was doing Jane Eyre, I couldn’t get the idea of Jeanne playing the role out of my head.”
Elliott said he didn’t even audition the roles of Jane or Mr. Rochester. He just talked to Syquia and Stuart about doing the roles because he knew they were perfect.
“Freddy? Freddy is Rochester,” Elliott said. “I mean that in a good way — I know Rochester has some real problems. Freddy has a size and a passion and a dynamic that is very hard to match. He’s the perfect age for it. His look and the way he approaches the work is just all a perfect fit.” [...]
“The set, the costumes and in the actor’s mind’s eye, it is the 1840s,” Elliott said. “It will have that Victorian silhouette to it. The set is more provocative and suggestive than actual or literal.”
Similar to the novel, the stage adaptation is presented in the first person from Eyre’s perspective. She recounts her story, inviting the audience in as she begins to write her autobiography. Like Brontë’s novel, she addresses the audience as “dear reader.”
Elliott said he hopes that audiences will be inspired and healed when they come to witness this work of great literature, a story he calls deeply resonant and about the human experience.
“I want (audiences) to have the same sense of excitement that I do in terms of witnessing a gothic romance, horror story that is ultimately uplifting and that reminds us that no matter where we start, we can transcend things that seem to be obstacles to us,” Elliott said. “I hope they go back and, whether they’ve read the novel or not, buy another copy and read it again. She was a genius. She was unparalleled.” (Bridgette M. Redman)
An acclaimed local author was the guest of honour at the first Writers at Waterford Libraries event of 2025 in the Central Library last month.
Martina Devlin is an author and newspaper columnist. She has written nine novels, two non-fiction books, two plays and a collection of short stories.
Her latest novel, Charlotte, explores Charlotte Brontë’s Irish connections and was a hot topic at the event.
Martina enthralled the audience of almost 80 people in Central Library with the stories of her research into Charlotte Brontë and the background to the book. She gave insight into the life of Charlotte and her Irish husband Arthur Bell Nicols, as well as recounting detail of the second marriage of Arthur to his cousin Mary Bell.
Waterford city and county librarian Mary Conway said: “It was an absolute pleasure to engage Martina Devlin in conversation about her work and it was clear to me how interested the audience were by their complete attention throughout the whole event.” (Eoin Kelleher)
If you like “Anti-Hero,” read “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë.
Although Emily Brontë constructed Heathcliff’s compelling character in the 1840s, the main character of “Wuthering Heights” encapsulates Taylor Swift’s 2022 song “Anti-Hero.” After being denied the chance to marry Catherine Earnshaw because of his social status and having to witness her marry another man, Heathcliff dedicates the rest of his life to seeking revenge on those who have wronged him.
Fulfilling the gothic genre, after Cathy’s tragic death, Heathcliff is haunted by Cathy’s memory, aligning perfectly with the image of Swift’s narrator waking up “screaming from dreaming” and her depression causing her to work “the graveyard shift.” This narrative parallels the novel as Heathcliff’s mania and depression drive him to literally lie in Cathy’s grave.
Feeling as if his life has lost “all its meaning” in the aftermath of Cathy’s death, Heathcliff takes on a toxic, controlling role in both his and Cathy’s children’s lives. His love and grief for Cathy propels him into acting like the “monster on the hill” Swift describes in her song.
Heathcliff is “the problem” and “everybody agrees,” but with the pain and suffering he faces in his childhood and his hopeless love for Cathy Earnshaw, the reader cannot help but sympathize with Brontë’s gothic antihero. Swift sings, “It must be exhausting always rooting for the antihero,” and the depression, self-loathing and scheming witnessed within her hit song align perfectly with Heathcliff’s character. (Caroline James Warner)
Well, to keep it Taylor Swift-themed, we can't help but say 'Way to go tiger/Higher and higher/Wilder and lighter'.
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