From shake & stir theatre co comes 'Jane Eyre': Charlotte Brontë’s gothic tale of an orphan in search of love, family and a sense of belonging.
This iconic piece of English literature will be retold for audiences in a faithful yet original stage adaptation at Redland Performing Arts Centre. It follows Jane, who finds employment in the mysterious home of Edward Rochester. As Jane and Edward become drawn to each other, secrets start to unravel.
'Jane Eyre' features original music by multi ARIA Award-winner Sarah McLeod.
Sarah has a hugely successful career – spanning two decades – under her belt. She's a founding member of the three-time ARIA Award-winning band The Superjesus, and has also been inducted into the South Australian Music Hall Of Fame. When it comes to theatre, Sarah starred in Green Day's 'American Idiot' alongside Magic Dirt's Adalita, and in 2019 was part of 'Jane Eyre''s first venture to the stage in 2019.
To find out more about what she's bringing to 'Jane Eyre', we had a chat to Sarah McLeod ahead of the show at Redland Performing Arts Centre.
This is a retelling of a classic piece of English literature. Why do you think bringing these stories back to life can be so powerful?
The origins of the message in the story (one of the first feminist novels), in which Jane Eyre fights her battles against patriarchal, class and religious structures, is still really relevant today. Just the other day, Julian Garner (one of the actors in the play) spoke about his character Brocklehurst as being like one of those ‘moral police’ agents in Iran responsible for the repression of women in that country. It would be very interesting to see an Iranian production put on there now and see the response. I'm sure it would be quite a rebellious thing to do – if they were even allowed to do it! It's incredible that in 2022, it remains a powerful, relevant and important story to tell.
You have been part of this show before, in 2019. What are you most excited for about it being brought back, at Redland Performing Arts Centre?
The shows just continue to get better, every night we each discover something new. With a small cast of four actors the chemistry is very important and we have that in spades, we are a super tight team. We inspire each other to do better, we listen out for each other and lift each other up. We've now done over 80 shows together, over the last 5 months, so to bring you our finest version of 'Jane Eyre' is a very exciting position to be in. We sold out our five-week season at QPAC back in June so to be returning to SE QLD with our hair on fire is enough to make one's blood bubble!
Has anything changed this time around?
When we first created and performed this show in 2019 there wasn't much time to sit back and relax. We had four weeks to put it all together and that includes writing the soundtrack. I did cheat a little though, I wrote an early version of the track 'Liar' for a pre-release teaser trailer with the guidance of one of the producers Nick Skubij and the main love theme 'Dying To Love You' before pre-production started, with guidance from the Director Michael Futcher. All the rest were written at night after rehearsals and based on what we had discovered during that day. It was so intense. Then we took it to the stage for four weeks at QPAC. Two years later when we revisited it again, I personally felt very different. I went back and changed a lot of the music and recorded a full soundtrack. Half the cast was different as well but both myself and Nelle Lee (who plays Jane Eyre) remained consistent.
And what do you think is the most relevant theme throughout this particular production of ‘Jane Eyre’?
The theme of love is always a major player in any production of 'Jane Eyre'. The lack of love, the desire for love, the expression of love, are all present throughout the book and form major points of conflict and joy in our production also.
You’re composing original music for this show. What sorts of things did you consider when putting the music together?
Mood was the most important thing. I had to move the listener through the dialogue and help drive the mood home. When certain harsh characters are the focus (e.g. Blanche Ingram), I play awkward, stiff, 'paint by numbers' music and when Jane and Rochester are having a tender moment I play soft, beautiful, flowing music. My job is to underscore the emotions and drive them home to add more weight to the script. Like an underscore in a film. I also wrote the whole thing in relevant keys so I can move between the songs seamlessly.
How would you describe the original music in three or four words?
Dark, beautiful, haunting.
Why do you think music is an important part of this show?
Because it makes the whole thing feel alive, it's a living, breathing entity. This story unfolds beautifully relying on all the cast equally but the music lifts it to a new dimension. The arrangements are weaved gently in and out of dialogue and help to build the intensity of the story.
'Jane Eyre' plays Redland Performing Arts Centre as part of its national tour on 11-12 November.
