Nick's Rehearsal Commentary

Character analysis

Some of the supporting actors (Pete, Faye, Daniele, Alice) went away to do some character work. Each actor is playing more than one role so the need to distinguish between these in the play is crucial. As well as playing out their key scenes, the actors went back to the book to see if there were any details they could incorporate into their roles. Some of the characters are only in a few scenes and so the challenge is to establish them as soon as possible and bring their back story into focus.

Pete felt that Mason was a weak character, a complete opposite to Rochester. This would need to come across when he interrupts the marriage to reveal the crucial secret. He also comes across as quite mysterious and a discussion took place about what kind of accent he would have. Pete said that he would go away and work on this. His other role, Mr Brocklehurst is a fiery and pious teacher. Should he played as completely cruel? In his own mind, he thinks he is saving Jane with his behaviour towards her. He needs to played with fierceness to show his effect on her without going too over the top.

Alice wanted to clarify about her character Adele and how she changes over the course of the play. The arrival of Jane clearly fills her with joy as she can now communicate with someone. But there is also the frustration she shows while learning English and the spoilt nature of her background comes into the picture. Daniele was keen to get to grips with her role as Mrs Fairfax. She worked on a number of different accents but also wanted to look into her history and how she ended up in Thornfield.  After running through a few scenes, she decided to play her softer with more warmth towards Jane and a desire to make sure everything at Thornfield runs smoothly. Faye felt comfortable with her characterisation of Blanche as someone who is self obsessed and wants to be the centre of attention of everything. She did have questions about her other character Helen Burns. Would someone that young be so strong willed? This led to an interesting discussion about how back then young children did come across as wise beyond their years. 

Nick's Rehearsal Commentary

Physical movements

The physical movements that the actors will need to show in this play need to be convincing in order for the audience to trust and believe in the piece. One particular sequence is where Rochester falls off his horse (with one of the actors playing a horse). Jeremy(Rochester) and Pete (Rochester’s Horse) worked on  this scene to find movement with which they were both comfortable. With the help of Daniele (Mrs Fairfax), Dan (Pilot) and Alice (Adele), various sequences were mapped out.  Should it be done slowly or quickly? This came down to whether we wanted to show it as a realistic action or a more stylised approach. Jeremy was concerned that both he and Pete could be injured if this is not done correctly. After a few attempts, the actors decided to go back to basics. They tried out balancing against each other in order to understand their relative strengths but also to learn to trust each other. By experimenting in this way, both actors managed to find a way to play this scene naturally. Once again, it shows a lot of hard work is required just to create a short moment in the play.

Meanwhile the West Indies scene is moving on a pace. As the actors’ movements were blocked out, we discussed the motives of the main characters, Rochester and Bertha. Was Bertha really mad? Or did she act as a wild spirited woman unhabituated by manners and morals? And if she was mad, did she inherit this or did it develop over time? Jeremy was keen to show Rochester’s helplessness in this situation and wanted to make sure that the audience didn’t lose faith in his character. As a young man in a foreign country, he would have found it difficult to comprehend what was happening to him.  In some ways, it was a very callous action to imprison her. But perhaps he knew no other way. In demonstrating this descent into madness, the actors’ movements become even more imaginative and stylised. This is the most elaborate of all the physical sequences in the play and the one that shifts it further away from a typical costume drama into something more fascinating. 

Rehearsal Photos

Rehearsal photos by Graeme Braidwood Photography

Nick's Rehearsal Commentary

Character motivation – Bertha

Sometimes it is important to move away from the text in rehearsals and concentrate on characters and subtext. Paula brought up a question about her character Bertha; if she had been locked up for so long, what would she be like? Madness can be a tricky element to show on stage. The temptation is to go over the top but sometimes it isn’t the big actions that reveal the character but the smaller moments.

Karen encouraged all of the actors to help out in this discussion. Throughout the play, Bertha’s actions appear to be animalistic. An improvised session was set up. Each actor would represent an animal trapped in a small space. What would their behaviour be in this situation? A variety of animals were acted out; dogs, rats, snakes, badgers, squirrels, monkeys, etc. Various behavioural patterns emerged from this improvisation; scratching, biting, digging, tearing, sliding, twisting, turning. All of these actions could be described as obsessive, ritualistic, maniacal. By observing all of these, Paula was able to take a lot of ideas to work on. The challenge is to introduce these into Bertha’s character whilst still retaining her lingering humanity. 

Nick Shelton

Charlotte Bronte & Jane Eyre

There has been a recent discovery of an essay that Charlotte Bronte wrote in 1842. It was written while she and her sister Emily were studying in Brussels under the tutelage of Professor Heger. It was at this time that both sisters abandoned their plan to be teachers and decided to become writers. When they returned to England, both of them published their first novels within a couple of years.

We know that Charlotte fell in love with Heger during this time as her passionate letters written to him currently reside in the British library. The question that has always been, was the relationship between Jane and Rochester influenced by this love? She found in Heger her intellectual equal much in the same way Jane finds in Rochester.

When it was discovered that Bronte had been inspired by Heger, it caused controversy as many believed the sisters had never been influenced by anyone else. But this was an important part of her life which clearly opened up new possibilities and experiences for her. In many ways, Jane Eyre could be seen as the story of Charlotte’s life up to that point. From a desperate childhood and the misery of school life to the opportunity of a fulfilling career and an all consuming relationship. Except of course Charlotte never got the chance to complete this relationship. There is some wish fulfillment in the ending of Jane Eyre. Did Charlotte create this to compensate for what she never experienced?

Nick Shelton

Nick's Rehearsal Commentary

The cast were shown a model of the set design created by Bob Stewart. There will be a raised back area which will act as the attic with a back door way as well as exits on either side.

During the picnic scene which establishes Rochester’s connection to Adele, a flashback scene was created to show his past with her mother. At this point, Alice playing Adele was keen to clarify the change her character goes through as Rochester does state in this scene that she has been transformed.

One of the problems of working on a play with so much physical action is that injuries can occur. This is particularly the case with scenes involving characters acting violently. There is a scene where Grace Poole has to drag Bertha off Rochester and she fights back. Both Paula and Kate spent a good twenty minutes alone choreographing this sequence in order to make sure the scene looks convincing without any of the actors getting hurt. It is another example of how even the shortest moments in the play require a significant amount of rehearsing to get absolutely correct.

For the party scene at Thornfield, Karen was keen to utilise every actor in the cast to create a lively atmosphere. In this scene, we are introduced to Blanche played by Faye and later on Mason played by Pete. Blanche is attracted to Rochester which provokes tremendous jealously from Jane. In this scene, a number of characters are vying for attention. Blanche is clearly the centre of attention although Adele is competing with her. Both Faye and Daniele playing Mrs Fairfax wanted to establish their movements and positioning in this scene.

For the opening scene Paula and Daisy, playing Bertha and Jane worked on movements involving painting and drawings with Bertha opening up Jane’s imagination. For the first time, there was an in-depth discussion regarding the characters, particularly Jane and Rochester. Jeremy felt that Rochester was trapped seeking some redemption which Jane could offer. Daisy felt that Jane was very wary of her emotions and her growing love towards Rochester. Both actors were interested in creating some key moments where the affection between them becomes apparent. These scenes were played out in a variety of different moods to see what worked best for each character.

Rochester: Where did you come from?

Rochester: I am disposed to be gregarious tonight Miss Eyre.

Jane: You may do as you please.

Jane: I don’t think sir you have the right to command me merely because you are older than I.

The four lines above are all key moments in this scene. They demonstrate Rochester’s desire to understand Jane and her growing confidence in answering him.

Nick Shelton

Nick's Rehearsal Commentary

First Rehearsals

When the first rehearsals began, it became very apparent the planning and blocking out of scenes will not be straight forward and will require constant experimentation and re-working. The actors are not only playing multiple roles but also animals and props and also providing sound effects. Bringing all these elements into a cohesive shape is a task that will need developing over the next few months. The opening rehearsal covered the first meeting between Jane and Rochester where she helps him after he falls off his horse. Both actors were keen to establish their characters attitudes during this meeting and their next conversation at Thornfield. Jane is reserved and reticent. Rochester is originally cold to her but then seems more inquisitive as the scene develops. He asks Jane whether she has ever loved someone, a key exchange emphasising the age gap and experience between the characters.

The second rehearsal moved on to the opening scene of the play where Jane as a child is reading a book. Here Bertha is established as an imaginary character as she interacts with Jane. This scene contains a lot of physical movements. What is amazing about this scene is the constant change of Bertha’s attitude towards Jane. At first she is guiding her, opening up her imagination. Then she is acting out Jane’s fantasies drawing her in. When John Reed enters the scene, Bertha becomes defensive and then attacks him on Jane’s behalf. Once the two characters are locked away, Bertha cajoles and berates her for not standing up to her oppressors and Jane tries to silence her. Finally Bertha becomes desperate as she is separated from Jane. It is an incredibly dramatic opening that will hopefully pull the audience headlong into the play.

The third rehearsal concentrated on a scene in the second act which looks back at Rochester and Bertha’s first meeting in the West Indies. In this scene, we see Rochester and Bertha in their younger guises, much different from the characters we have seen up to this point. The tone of this scene is completely at odds with the rest of the play. The characters are more sensual, alive and free of all social restrictions. This was a chance for the actors to take on something completely different. Although it is a short scene (only a page long), the movement required by the actors was complex and exhausting. What is very encouraging is that all of the actors were prepared to throw themselves into any situation and were comfortable interacting with each other. 

Nick Shelton

Rehearsal Updates
Nick Shelton has kindly offered to post comments about the show throughout rehearsals.  Here are his first two posts.

Introduction

This adaptation of Jane Eyre by Shared experience and Polly Teale has one key difference from other adaptations. The novel contains passages which illuminate Jane’s inner thoughts and this is something that is difficult to create in drama. What Teale has done is to take the character of Bertha (Rochester’s first wife) and make her a manifestation of these very thoughts. Throughout the novel, Bronte wanted to show that Victorian women were punished for showing their passions and desires. Therefore you could see Bertha as the part of Jane that she wants to keep hidden. One of the key components of this adaptation is the constant physical movement throughout the play, particular in the characters of Jane and Bertha. It is important that all the actors involved feel comfortable in using their physicality. This is why the audition process for the play was different from other productions. Those auditioning needed to demonstrate their ability to create physical movements from ideas and words. They also had to show they could improvise quickly and interact with other actors with ease. Important to the success of the project is the need for the actors to work as an ensemble and this is something that will be developed in the early rehearsals.

Script reading

For the first rehearsal, it was decided that there would be a complete read through of the play. This is an opportunity for the actors to become familiar with the script. At this point, stage directions and character movements are put aside to concentrate purely on the text. The novel is over 500 pages long and covers a significant period of time. Teale’s adaptation has stripped down a lot of the dialogue and detail to concentrate on the key moments. Overall the play has 38 scenes which may seem a lot but quite a few of these are very short. The first impression is that these short scenes will give the piece some pace and energy. The actors took this opportunity to get into their roles and try out various accents. Most of the actors will be playing multiple roles so this was the first chance for them to learn to switch easily between these roles. The read through finished quicker than was expected and went fairly smoothly. The challenge in the first rehearsals is to match this text with all the physical movements required.

Nick Shelton

Cast List
Many, many thanks to everyone who auditioned.  I've seen some extremely talented performers over the last week. 

The final cast list is as follows:
Jane Daisy Barrett Nash
Bertha Paula Wall
Rochester/John Jeremy Wyatt
Mrs Reed/Mrs Fairfax Daniele Harford
Blanche/Helen/Diana Faye Lindsey
Adele/Abigail/Girl in Market Alice Winstanley
Bessie/Grace/Mary/Woman Kate Owen
Mason/Brocklehurst Pete Smith
St John/Ingram/Pilot Daniel Wilby

Auditions
Auditions are this week.
Tomorrow night at 7.30 in the rehearsal room
Sunday 22nd 3pm in the Studio
Please be aware that I will be seeing people in pairs/small groups so there may some waiting around to do.