Buy Tickets on-line
No booking fee!
Autumn production 2007Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, adapted by Willis HallJANE EYREDirected by Michael Black 16-17 November Commemoration Hall, Huntingdon.
|
 |
STORY
The play is a dramatisation by Willis Hall (who wrote Billy Liar) of
Charlotte Brontë’s novel of love and passion. It follows Jane’s life until the
age of 18, including her miserable childhood; her work as a governess at
Thornfield Hall; falling in love with her employer, Mr Rochester; the revelation
– when Jane and Mr Rochester are at the altar – that he is already married and
that his wife is insane; her hasty departure from Thornfield Hall; and her
eventual reunion with Mr Rochester, who has been blinded in a fire which his
wife has caused.
5
SETTING
The play is written in a non-naturalistic style, with numerous short scenes
using an almost bare stage, and only a chair, blackboard or other prop to
suggest the location. According to Willis Hall, ‘What is important to the
early-nineteenth century feel of any production, is the close, claustrophobic
sense produced by small acting areas contained in pools of candelight.’
5
CHARACTERS
The play has 37 named characters (24 women, 13 men), and has been written so
that it can be performed if necessary by 12 actors, with most of them taking
several roles. The main characters include Jane, Mr Rochester, Bessie (a
servant), Mrs Fairfax (housekeeper), Adèle (a French girl), Blanche Ingram (a
society beauty), St John Rivers (a clergyman who falls in love with Jane), and
several others. The characters don’t have to be played by people of the
appropriate age.
5