A CLOSER LOOK AT SCHMECKFEST’S ‘JANE EYRE’
EDITOR’S NOTE: Since January, the cast and production team involved with the 2025 Schmeckfest stage production, “Jane Eyre,” have been working diligently to prepare the musical drama for its three-night run on April 3, 4 and 5. Performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. each night. While “Jane Eyre” has been performed one other time in this community — Freeman Academy staged it as its fall musical in 2017 — it is a relatively unknown story. To help set the stage for the upcoming performances, director Jill Hofer has offered the following synopsis.
The story of “Jane Eyre,” written by Charlotte Bronte, is set in the moors of England during the early 19th century. Themes of poverty and wealth, love and devotion, forgiveness, mental illness/madness, faith, and the secrets we keep course through the rich story.
The first scene opens in Gateshead Hall, the place where orphaned Young Jane Eyre (Madelyn Anderson) goes to hide from her aunt, Mrs. Reed (Lois Wollman), and cousin, John (Liam Ortman), who are cruel and unkind to her. She finds solace in her books, her small rag doll, and imagines a life away from her tormentors, where she can fly free like the birds she sees out of the window.
Mrs. Reed decides that Jane has become intolerable and sends her to Lowood orphanage, where Jane is befriended by Helen Burns (Estelle Waltner). Helen teaches Jane lessons in forgiveness, faith and kindness. Helen eventually succumbs to typhus, leaving Jane to mourn her passing. Jane spends the next eight years at Lowood, she then seeks to find freedom from the confines of the school and accepts a position as governess at Thornfield Hall.
We meet Mrs. Fairfax (Sonja Waltner), the elderly housekeeper of the hall; Adele (Adeline Graber), the young French girl whom Jane (Kelsey Pidde) tutors; and Edward Fairfax Rochester (Elliott Graber), the master of Thornfield. Jane quickly becomes attached to Mrs. Fairfax and Adele and finds Thornfield to be a beautiful but odd house. The disturbing strange laughter that is heard coming from the attic sets Jane on edge. Rochester enters the show with wit and dark humor in attempt to hide his mistrust of the world and all it holds for him. He is intrigued by Jane’s goodness and spirituality. Jane and Rochester form a tenuous bond, neither quite sure of the intention of the other. Jane eventually confronts Rochester’s darker side.
Jane saves Rochester, who is the victim of an attack from a strange figure. It is through this life-saving ordeal that the master and governess are united and drawn closer together. Rochester, who is disturbed by his growing attachment to Jane, distracts himself by filling his house with town guests. Much to Jane’s dismay, Blanche Ingram (Clara Beseman), one of the guests, has her sights set on the Master of the house. While they banter back and forth, Mason (Jason Mehlhaf), an old acquaintance of Rochester’s arrives. Rochester pleads with Jane, in the name of friendship, not to abandon him should his secrets come to the light. She vows to stay by his side even as Blanche and Rochester’s relationship develops.
At night Mason ventures into the attic and is brutally attacked. Rochester and Jane quickly treat the man and send him away from Thornfield. After the excitement of the evening, Rochester, unsettled, taunts Jane with the possibility of his upcoming marriage. Jane insists that she should leave Thornfield if he chooses to marry Blanche. She spends time reminding herself of her place as a lowly governess.
A gypsy appears and suggests to Blanche that Rochester is not all that he appears to be. She wastes no time in abandoning Rochester and immediately leaves Thornfield. After regaining his freedom, Rochester confesses his love for Jane and proposes marriage to her, which she accepts.
As Rochester and Jane prepare to be wed, Mason appears at the church to halt the wedding as he reveals Rochester’s secret: he already has a wife. The wedding party returns to Thornfield to meet Bertha Mason (Bailey Carlson), Rochester’s mad wife, who has been living in the attic. Jane, unable to bear the deception, leaves Thornfield.
Jane wanders across the moors, eventually fainting from lack of food or shelter. She is discovered by St. John (Brennan Waltner) and is returned to Gateshead Hall. There she discovers her aunt, Mrs. Reed, who is dying. Jane offers forgiveness as a way to move beyond the trauma of her past. St. John and Jane grow closer as time passes and he proposes marriage, as a missionary’s wife. Jane pleads with God to give her direction. Rochester’s voice calls to her over the moors and she returns to Thornfield and the man she loves to make a life with him.
This musical draws us into the deeper themes of life. Jane explores what it means to live out her hard learned values, even though in the end it costs her all that she loves. This is a direct challenge to us today as we all learn to live into what we believe. The inability to keep secrets pushes Rochester to acknowledge the hard places of his life and how they have twisted his view of the world.
The music itself is rich and challenging, bringing to life these deeper themes. Songs like, Forgiveness, Secret Soul, My Hope of Heaven, and Brave Enough for Love draw the listener in and bring to life the deep emotion of the characters.
