JOUBERT. JANE EYRE.
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Cast & Creatives
Jane Eyre: Laura Mekhail
Edward Rochester: Hector Bloggs
Ensemble: Angharad Davies
Ensemble: Chris Murphy
Ensemble: Anna Sideris
Ensemble: Lawrence Thackeray
Ensemble: Alexander SempleComposer: John Joubert
Director: Eleanor Burke
Movement Director: Alexander Gotch
Conductor: Kenneth Woods
Associate Conductor: Peggy Wu
Set & Costume Design: Emeline Beroud
Lighting Design: Trui Malten
Arrangement: Thomas Ang
Costume Supervisor: Bea Viña
Stage Manager: Florence Carruthers -
“GREEN OPERA’S PRODUCTION OF JOHN JOUBERT’S JANE EYRE TURNS THE BEST PARTS OF OPERA INTO A PHENOMENAL WORK OF ART. I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ANYONE WHO “DOESN’T LIKE OPERA” TO TRY IT – PRODUCTIONS LIKE THIS WILL MAKE YOU THINK AGAIN!”
”AT ONCE POWERFUL AND RAW WHILE REMAINING REFINED AND FOCUSED”
“PRODUCING THIS IN THE ARCOLA THEATRE IS A REVELATION, AS THE INTIMATE SPACE DRAWS US INTO THE CAST’S FULL SPECTRUM OF EMOTIONS WITHOUT HAVING TO TAKE OUT A LOAN. ELEANOR BURKE’S DIRECTION IMMERSES US FURTHER, EXTRACTING POWERFUL PERFORMANCES AND CLEVERLY USING SPACE, LEVELS, MOVEMENT AND VISUALLY STRIKING SYMBOLISM.”
“AN ENTHUSIASTIC AND ENGAGING EVENING, WHICH HELD MY ATTENTION THROUGHOUT DESPITE PRIOR FAMILIARITY WITH THE STORY.”
“AN IMAGINATIVE PRODUCTION, WHERE PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EXTERNALITIES.”
★★★★★ FAIRY POWERED PRODUCTIONS
”AWARD-WINNING DIRECTOR ELEANOR BURKE’S BOLD INTERPRETATION KEEPS THE PRESENCE OF BERTHA, THE MAD WOMAN IN THE ATTIC, ALIVE FOR THE AUDIENCE AS STEFFI FASHOKUN’S BALLETIC MOVES WEAVE AROUND THE MAIN ACTION. SHE REFUSES TO BE FORGOTTEN.
★★★★ PLANET HUGILL
“AMAZINGLY, THE STAGE PREMIERE OF JOUBERT'S FINAL OPERA, A WORK WHICH HAS TANTALISED FOR DECADES. HERE RECEIVING AN ADMIRABLY FULL-BLOODED PERFORMANCE”
”WE MUST APPLAUD GREEN OPERA FOR GOING WHERE NO OTHER COMPANY HAS DARED”
”THE PERFORMANCES BY THE TWO LEADS, LAURA MEKHAIL AND HECTOR BLOGGS WERE BOTH FULL BLOODED AND ENGAGING. MEKHAIL BROUGHT A CONTAINED INTENSITY TO JANE, MAKING YOU REMEMBER THAT IN THE BOOK THE CHARACTER IS FIERCE WITH SHARP EDGES.”
”A MUST SEE”
“IF JOUBERT SAW THIS PERFORMED AS AN OPERA HE’D FEEL THE LACK OF BERTHA’S VOICE MORE ACUTELY…STEFFI FASHOKUN’S BERTHA MASON WORDLESSLY CONVEY[S] TRAUMA, DREAM AND TURMOIL, AND SHE’S SUPERB”
“A GRIPPING ROMANTIC OPERA PREMIERE EMERGING RIGHT OUT OF DALSTON. ARCOLA’S GRIMEBORN HAVE SCORED ANOTHER FIRST WITH A FUTURE.”
“THIS CONTEMPORARY OPERATIC TAKE ON A CLASSIC STORY IS VISUALLY RICH AND MUSICALLY DRAMATIC, BROUGHT TO LIFE BY A TALENTED GROUP OF YOUNG SINGERS”
“ELEANOR BURKE’S DIRECTION AND EMELINE BEROUD’S SET AND COSTUMES HELP CREATE A RICH VISUAL WORLD IN WHICH THESE TENSE INTERPERSONAL DYNAMICS PLAY OUT. THE PRODUCTION DESIGN CENTRES ON THE RED THREADS OF FATE AND DESTINY WHICH AT TIMES TRAP AND PULL EACH CHARACTER IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. ABOVE THE STAGE, IN HER ATTIC, BERTHA MASON WORKS AT A BLOOD RED TAPESTRY, LIKE A MODERN-DAY PENELOPE WEAVING IN CAPTIVITY.”
“HANGING FROM THE CEILING ARE SEVERAL PROPS REPRESENTING KEY MOMENTS OR THEMES FROM JANE’S LIFE, AND CHARACTERS INTERACT WITH THESE AT KEY POINTS IN THE SHOW. WITHIN THE MINIMAL YET INTIMATE SPACE OF THE ARCOLA, THESE PROPS HELP CREATE A TANGIBLE LANDSCAPE EVOKING THE 19TH CENTURY WORLD OF THE NOVEL. THE IMMEDIACY OF THE SMALL CAST SINGING SO CLOSELY TO THE AUDIENCE ALSO ALLOWED THE SINGERS TO PLAY WITH A MUCH GREATER DYNAMIC RANGE THAN SOME TRADITIONAL OPERAS IN A LARGER SPACE.”
