*SPOILER ALERT*
Directed by Sally Cookson, this production is a joint effort between the National Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic. Charlotte Brontë’s novel is a substantial one, following the tradition of the bildungsroman, and charts the turbulent and passionate experiences of Jane Eyre from birth to adulthood. Opening with Jane as an orphan baby, considered nothing more than a cuckoo in the nest by her extended family, we see the start of her rebellious streak develop, especially her consternation with the notion of "unjust" behaviour. She is then sent to Lowood, a school for poor girls to learn skills for life, the hard way, through punishment and ridicule. Eventually she finds a placement as a governess at Thornfield Hall where she meets the enigmatic Mr Rochester and a passion grows between them. Alas, the revelation of his dark secret of having his violent and mad wife, Bertha, living in the attic causes her to flee in an attempt to free her spirit once more. She gains shelter with a kind family of siblings with a strong Christian faith. Over time, the brother, St John wants Jane for his wife and to move to India as a missionary with him. However, such is the strength of bond she feels to Rochester she hears him calling to her in the wind and so she returns to Thornfield to discover Bertha has burned down the house and Rochester has lost his sight in the incident. For Jane, true love really is blind. So, admittedly, a lot to cram into a stage production!
The set was an interesting layout of many levels of wooden platforms and metal ladders which wouldn't have looked out of place as an army obstacle course. The use of the space was well thought out and proved adaptable for all the different settings from Lowood Institution to Thornfield Hall. The actors coped well with all the physical demands of moving about the set, often in dance like poses or borderline circus balances. At times though, the constant rushing and leaping about seemed a bit hectic and distracted from the main point of the scenes. At points it almost felt like a cartoon where the characters' little legs would go round in a whirl of dust. Urgency and passion were certainly attempting to be represented, it just, at times, felt a little chaotic.
Jane Eyre set, 2017 tour, photo by Brinkhoff Mögenburg
Lighting was also put to good effect, most notably in the stage being bathed in red when Jane is forced, by Aunt Reed, to remain in the Red Room as her punishment for being insolent. There were several innovative uses of sound and props in addition to physical formations: when travelling, the cast all came together and jogged on the spot in a rhythmic representation of the vehicle movement, accompanied by the band and shouts of station names; wooden frames worked well as ways to capture a particular moment, come together to box in Jane and also be pushed aside to represent liberation; the cast all held lamps to represent small bedroom fires and when the wind blew around Jane, cast members fluttered her costume. The use of contained real flames was also very striking and worked well to represent the initial burning of Rochester's bedroom and later all of Thornfield.
Photo: National Theatre Wales
The cast worked well together and frequently functioned in tandem: particularly when Jane is questioning herself and the other members of the cast replied in her voice too. This worked well as it showed the internal conflict and turmoil Jane (Nadia Clifford) was experiencing without becoming an extensive monologue. However, at times, the Northern accents and delivery of lines came across as a bit robotic and stilted which made it seem more like the dialogue was being read rather than a natural speech pattern. The physical elements of the production made up for lack of characterisation through speech and the moments where Jane and Rochester (Tim Delap) touched hands was particularly striking and moving.
Humour was evoked through Craig Edwards, who's main role was a convincing Pilot, Rochester's faithful canine companion. The body language between the actors and "dog" was very detailed with strokes and lounging on each other, and this petting became a great source of amusement. In a text with so much sorrow and anguish it was a great release of tension to have moments such as this. Many of Jane's lines are also quite humorous and this was emphasised and demonstrably appreciated by the audience.
At times, there were also some odd choices made in the production though. This included choosing to use the gender-blind casting of Evelyn Miller to play the role of St John when there were several male cast members available. This is not to discredit Miller in the slightest as she played the character well: it just seemed a strange casting without clear reasoning behind it. Also the death scenes proved quite ambiguous, such as when Aunt Reed just got out of her wheelchair and discarded her blanket almost before she'd finished speaking and so for a second it just seemed like she was fed up with Jane's presence and decided to leave having feigned her frailty. The other death which was also tricky to portray was that of Bertha. The set layout made it awkward for Bertha's death to be straightforward and again, she just seemed to wander about. This could have been a representation of the idea that she will still haunt Thornfield but it didn't translate perfectly.
Bertha's role was somewhat ambiguous, but Melanie Marshall had an outstanding singing voice which accompanied the action throughout and so kept Bertha ever-present. Evoking a soulful and mournful atmosphere, the song choices were apt and also reminiscent of the emphasis placed on music in the Caribbean, Bertha's homeland. Having the band tucked away centre stage also made for an intriguing spectacle and the overall musical accompaniment was an excellent addition which added to the atmosphere of the production. Every time Marshall sang, another layer was added to the production from belting out Noël Coward's "Mad About the Boy" to the brilliant and unusual arrangement of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" at the end, which genuinely made the hairs on my neck stand up. Melanie Marshall cannot be commended highly enough for her performance.
Having never seen a production of "Jane Eyre" before, I was impressed overall at the ability to condense a lengthy text with so many classical and biblical references into a show of around 3 hours and still provide an entertaining story. However, as would be expected, this editing did mean that some of the major themes were glossed over or re-envisaged to fit with this particular production. It was pointed out to me during the interval that, being familiar with the text, I could follow events, but perhaps it would have been a bit unclear for someone less acquainted with the story. There are so many things to commend this production for, especially in terms of its ingenuity of regenerating this classic and brining it to audiences that may indeed never have heard the tale before. Despite its flaws, it's still worth seeing as a solid performance of a dramatic love story that defies the odds, accompanied with spine-tingling singing.
You can still catch the performance until Saturday 1st July. More information and tickets are available here.