Charlotte Brontë’s famous novel Jane Eyre has inspired many artists. The extraordinary prose is one of the highlights of Romantic literature. Its importance is also evidenced by over thirty film, television and musical adaptations. The Brno City Theatre (BCT) staged a musical adaptation of it this weekend as the Czech premiere. The production directed by Petr Gazdík is a strong and impressive piece of musical theatre that impresses with its musical staging, singing and acting performances, as well as costume, scenography and movement.
The musical, which is now being staged by the BCT Music Stage, is the first time it has been performed in the country, its first version having premiered in 1995. It was staged on Broadway in 2000. It received five nominations for the prestigious Tony Award and was subsequently performed in Austria and Japan. It was written by composer and lyricist Paul Gordon and librettist and director John Caird. Czech translation was provided by the director Petr Gazdík and it has to be said that even though the lyrics in this version are at times romantically tongue-in-cheek, one can appreciate the tasteful presentation of the poignant story of an orphan who makes her way through a bleak life to the love of her dreams. It is in such materials that it is easy to slip into kitsch and melodrama, which fortunately the theatrical treatment of Jane Eyre in Brno avoided.
Gazdík’s production is a well-composed musical theatre that casually emphasises the romantic arsenal of the text: the themes of personal honour, sacrificial love and the miraculous power of forgiveness. Audiences craving this very kind of big musical theatre will get it all in spades. And this implied communication, message and mission or, maybe, the main idea of the almost three-hour production is wrapped up here in quite sophisticated theatricality. The visuality of the evening is provided by a successful scene by Petr Hloušek, who has built the high wooden walls of the aristocratic mansion in Thornfield to the portals; at other times, a suggestive roof structure comes down on stage and part of the story takes place under these trusses and wooden ties. Another ingenious touch is the use of a pyramid staircase, which arrives on one of the stage tables on a frequently used turntable and effectively mixes the plot; Gazdík also uses it for a number of interesting stage actions. In imaginative contrast to the Anglicanly simple scene in harsh autumn colours are the lavish costumes of Eliška Ondráčková Lupačová. Here we witness the real fashion of the first half of the nineteenth century. In addition to the cuts and fabrics, the designer’s attention to detail can be appreciated, especially in the ladies, for example in the use of lorgnette or various bows and careful folds. Another pleasant surprise of the evening was the interesting choral choreographies by Hana Kratochvilová who has equipped this company in black costumes with long branches. From them, but also from human bodies, mountains, hills and the famous heaths are formed here. These simple movement figures are an imaginative and organic thread to the story, adding a casual charm to the production.
We are, however, on the ground of a romantic musical, and here music lovers will enjoy music in an excellent orchestral arrangement by the conductor Caspar Richter who conducted the first premiere superbly. The sound of the orchestra is truly superior and also provides a solid ground for the settled and steady performances of the performers. The natural focus of the production is Kristýna Daňhelová in the title role, who not only equips her Jane with singing bravura, but also gives her the necessary acting charisma. The unyielding heroine in this rendition is not a romantically pained girl, but a truly living being whose speeches and songs about love, humility, surrender and forgiveness can be trusted. Daňhelová did not add too much sugar to her Jane; the opposite is true – she partially enveloped her heroine with an attractive acting enigma so necessary and functional in romantic subjects. Not only in duets she is successfully seconded by Lukáš Janota as Edward Rochester, who has also found the optimal form for his partly mysterious and unpretentiously loving hero, who also entertains the audience as an old, singing gypsy. And it was with gentle humour that Alena Antalová equipped her Mrs. Fairfax, whose singing parts as Rochester’s garrulous housekeeper are a real listener’s delight. Just like the magic clear voice of Sára Milfajtová , who wins over the audience not only with her superbly sung coloratura soprano aria, in which she shows great lightness and mobility, especially in the highest levels. It is impossible to name all the grown-up protagonists, but the audience is also reliably moved by the children’s performances, which on Saturday were really casually reigned by Marie Juráčková as the mischievous and also slightly theatrical Adele.
The bottom line: the Brno production of this romantic musical is an interesting piece of theatre that inventively treats the iconic story of the orphan without melodramatic traps for the audience, with excellently played and sung music. Jane Eyre is a strong title in the musical repertoire of the Brno City Theatre, far removed from the occasional superficiality and cheap entertainment of the musical genre.
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