Theatre Buzz: Jeanne Syquia as Jane Eyre

Jeanne Syquia On Her Latest Role Jane Eyre

Over the 200-plus years since its publication, Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel Jane Eyre has gained millions of fans. Orphan Jane goes from miserable childhood to governess at Thornfield Hall, where she encounters Mr. Rochester, eternally described as “brooding.” A passionate love story, Jane Eyre weaves together themes of responsibility, resilience, independence and self-determination.

The novel has been the subject of more than a dozen film and television adaptations, and even a musical. Now a play, by Elizabeth Williamson, opens this month at A Noise Within, 10 years after its premiere at the National Theatre in London.

Jeanne Syquia, who stars as Jane at A Noise Within, has been re-reading the book throughout the rehearsal process and reports that, “The play follows the novel pretty faithfully. There are maybe two or three scenes that come chronologically in a different order in the play, just because it streamlines the story and makes it more cohesive for the theater audience. Aside from that, it’s very faithful to the novel.”

Despite its age, Syquia says, the story teaches important lessons for today, “about being true to yourself and never losing sight of who you are. Jane’s character has such integrity and such a strong moral compass. As you see in the novel and the play, she goes through some difficult, sometimes horrific, conditions. But throughout it all, she has a strong sense of herself and doesn’t betray that part of her.”

Syquia adds, “There’s a beautiful line in the play that I really love: ‘The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.’ In essence, to me, that means, the more she chooses the hard road, the more she’ll respect herself because she would only have chosen that if she’s staying true to who she is.”

“I think she’s fiercely intelligent,” Syquia adds. “She might seem quiet, but underneath that, she has a real desire to engage with the world. In the book she describes herself as having a restlessness in her soul because she wants to see more of the world, learn about other people, and be connected to them. I think this is because of her upbringing: this character was an orphan, then an outcast from the only family she knew. She had to make it on her own, starting at age 10 when she was sent off to this terrible boarding school.”

“There are so many references in the book to how small she is and how from a young age had to fend for herself and figure out how to make her way through the world. So she’s a very resilient character,” said Syquia.

One of the more unsettling aspects of Jane Eyre is Mr. Rochester’s wife, Bertha, who is locked in the attic and described as “mad” and “insane.” Syquia notes, “Those are Charlotte Brontë’s words, but at the end of the day, you can’t help but read her with a 21^st-century lens. This is a human being, a woman, and a woman of color, as well. From what I’ve read, in retrospect Brontë wished she’d spent more time thinking about the character of Bertha, and humanizing her more.”

Syquia points out that, as an actor, it’s not possible to play the idea of “an icon.”  “You can only play a human being, so I’m also giving myself permission,” said Syquia. “Our director Geoff Elliott [A Noise Within’s co-founder and co-producing artistic director] has also encouraged us to remember that Jane is very much a human being, however, we end up interpreting it.”

In addition to rereading the book, Syquia researched Charlotte Brontë and the Victorian period. Like Jane, Syquia is a teacher, on the acting faculty of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy for almost five years. She is comfortable at A Noise Within, having performed there in Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“It’s a wonderful group of people, so coming to rehearsal and getting to play, collaborate, and ask questions is so creatively satisfying. They’ve created this really strong familial environment and have an extraordinary company of resident artists,” said Syquia. “When you build an ensemble like that, including the people offstage, it creates a familiarity and shorthand. And they do such beautiful productions.”

Jane Eyre opens this month at A Noise Within, 3352 E Foothill Blvd. in Pasadena. Tickets start at $51.50 and are available here. Previews run March 23-28 on Sundays at 2:00pm, Wednesdays through Fridays at 7:30pm. Performances run March 29 through April 20 Thursdays through Saturdays at 7: 30pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. (no Saturday matinee on March 29). There are post-performance conversations with the artists every Friday (except the preview) and on Sunday, April 6.