Jane Eyre Performance Response

The 2016 rendition of Jane Eyre, directed by Sally Cookson, explored the story in a ‘new-age’ light, using unique set design and creative direction, along with the talented cast. First published in the 19th century, author Charlotte Bronte had written the story based off many of her own life experiences. Jane Eyre being the story of a young orphan child, growing up in an unpleasant environment with her aunt. Throughout the play she grows and evolves, using her troubled past to develop as a character. She enters school, stands up for herself, loses friends, and grows into a young adult, falling in love with Edward Rochester (the man which who she works for), and eventually getting married.

For the production team to truly understand the meaning and context of the story, a Dramaturg is an extremely vital role in a production, especially for a historic story such as Jane Eyre. A dramaturg’s role is to explore contextual research into a play’s history and creators, to make the details in the play authentic, and true to the original story. The dramaturg for this rendition of Jane Eyre is by Mike Akers.

The set, designed by Michael Vale, was a key component of this rendition of the performance. A minimalistic set was used, with wooden platforms used across the stage, commonly places at different heights to symbolise power imbalance between each character, thus representing levels. Metal ladders were also another key component to the set, as they acted as a symbol of the character’s wanting to “reach up” to attain their true dreams and desires, working up to their goals.

Lighting was another production role that brought the performance to life. Lighting helps create an atmosphere for a performance, emphasise emotions from characters, and connect with the audience on a deeper level. Lighting designer, Aideen Malone uses naturalistic lighting to compliment the minimalist set throughout the play, making the moments were intense lighting was used even more powerful. In the ‘Red Room’ scenes, symbolic of Jane being completely controlled by the adults around her and finally having to face her inner demons as a child, red lighting is used to discomfort Jane and exaggerate her anxiety to the audience.