We arrived late.
I got it in my head that the show started at 7:30pm. It started at 7:15pm. When we got there, we found ourselves face to face with an annoyed box office staff member.
Still, they managed to get us in, and what followed, even though we missed the first 15 minutes, was mindblowing.
This time, I’m talking about the theatrical performance of Jane Eyre – and it’s today’s spooky thing!
Jane Eyre is a gothic romance. It isn’t spooky all the time, but it veers into a bit of a spookfest on multiple occasions. The red room at the start of the story. The sounds in the night in Mr Rochester’s house… Charlotte Brontë didn’t hesitate to get a bit spooky when needed – and neither does the theatre adaptation.
Something about the limited set too – the actors basically use a climbing frame for most of the performance to represent all manner of things, leaving a lot to the imagination. Combine that with other special effects, and it results in an enthralling performance that really hooks you in.
A particular spooky standout for me was a woman in a red dress, occasionally wandering onto the stage to sing a haunting melody, with no indication as to who she is. It adds a real creep factor to the play, and puts the audience in the same state of mind of Jane as she wanders Rochester’s dark halls – what is really going on? What isn’t Mr Rochester telling us?
If you know the story of Jane Eyre, you’ve probably guessed who the woman in red is (the use of red, of course, referring back to the red room at the beginning – a symbol of danger, a symbol of fear, a symbol of bending to someone’s will) but I won’t spoil it if you don’t. I have just found out that you can watch the whole play on the National Theatre Home website, so go check it out if you’re interested!
Here is the trailer:
Rhi Axtell - Writer 
Leave a comment