A Noise Within presents “Jane Eyre”

As a Literature major in my distant past, I have a shameful confession to make – I’ve never read Jane Eyre. I’ve read Ulysses and Absalom, Absalom, Toni Morrison and Annie Proulx, but never quite got to Charlotte Brontë. I was certainly aware of the basic story from the film and tv versions and the novel’s influence on pop culture, but I hadn’t read the thing itself. And I still haven’t. However, I have seen the new production at A Noise Within of Elizabeth Williamson’s adaptation of the book, and I can say this without reservation: Reader, I loved it. This is a superb show on every level, funny and moving and entertaining, and I can’t recommend it more highly.

In early nineteenth-century England, eighteen-year-old Jane Eyre (Jeanne Syquia) gets a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall. She meets the kindly housekeeper, Mrs. Fairfax (Deborah Strang), and Adele (Stella Bullock), the young French girl she’s employed to tutor, but the master of the house, Mr. Rochester (Frederick Stuart), is absent. When he finally arrives, he is initially imperious and teases Jane, but as time passes they begin to appreciate each other. Jane is largely alone in the world, but she soon starts to see Thornfield Hall as her home. There’s a mystery in her home, though, as she hears screams in the night and occasionally sees a mysterious figure in the dark. As Jane begins to have romantic feelings towards Mr. Rochester, any chance of her future happiness will depend on the secrets she’s unaware of being brought out into the light.

Syquia is very impressive as the title character, who can be blunt in her worldview but never fails to earn our sympathy and affection. Even though Jane is very earnest, Syquia finds the humor in her banter with Rochester, and her big speech in which she declares herself to be human is expertly delivered with raw passion. Stuart is excellent as Mr. Rochester, capturing all of the contradictions of the role, from surly rich boss to humorous friend, from man with a secret to an emotional man in love. Stuart revels in the rich language of the piece, and several times he performs the dialogue with such skill that it’s like we’re watching a Shakespeare play.

Strang excels in three different roles, from the likeable Mrs. Fairfax to the haughty Lady Ingram and the unkind Mrs. Reed. Trisha Miller is terrific as the cagey servant Grace and even better as Blanche, the hilariously bitchy woman seeking a rich husband. Riley Shanahan also gets to demonstrate his skill in multiple roles, from the enigmatic Mason to the well-meaning if a bit formal clergyman St. John Rivers and bratty cousin John in a memorable flashback. Bullock is appropriately cheerful and chatty (in French) as Adele, but she really stands out as Young Jane, exposing Jane’s inner ferocity in a scene in which she stands up for herself.

Geoff Elliott’s direction is inspired, and he gets outstanding work from his entire ensemble. His staging is fluid and manages to use the large space to create a sense of emptiness and darkness (with the critical help of Frederica Nascimento’s flexible scenic design and Ken Booth’s appropriately sepulchral lighting design) that evokes the Gothic nature of the story. A scene in which Rochester suddenly departs the house, and, as if mirroring the sense of loss in Jane’s heart, all of the furniture and set pieces are whisked swiftly off the stage to leave her standing there alone, is a clever and masterful piece of direction. Angela Balogh Calin’s costume design is lush and crucial to creating the world of the play.

Elizabeth Williamson’s adaptation is literate and very effective – by the end you care for the fate of the main characters. Some of the ways people thought at the time the book was published have changed in the following one hundred and seventy-eight years (as in, Mr. Rochester seems pretty sketchy now in several ways), but this version stays true to the spirit of the novel and it’s still compelling and the emotions ring true.

A Noise Within’s production of Jane Eyre is excellent in every particular. It’s a must-see.

Jane Eyre is presented by and at A Noise Within and plays through April 20, 2025.

This production of Jane Eyre has a running time of 2 hrs and 20 minutes.

Tickets are available here.