On Wednesday, 1 June St Clare’s had a group of 41 students and parents from Years 11 and 12 come together to see the performance of Jane Eyre at the Manning Entertainment Centre.  For many of our students, this was their first time attending a professional performance and for others, the familiarity of attending a live show was a welcomed treasure.

The performance was a close interpretation of Charlotte Bronte’s classic 1847 novel, ‘Jane Eyre’, and it offered a powerful interpretation of the text which detailed Jane’s early life as an orphan, and her move into adulthood.  It is a life which is characterised by loss, jealousy, love, determination and hope.  It helps us understand the universality of the human experience as our students were able to recognise the timeless qualities which allowed this story to endure and to be so poignant 170 years after it was penned.  For many of our students, ARIA award winner Sarah McLeod was the highlight – as her musicality offered a haunting soundtrack to Jane’s inner conflicts. The performance was staged with only four actors who took on each of the roles – and the range of the actors to transform with minimal costume change captured the imagination and possibility of our students.

Our Stage 6 English students in class have been considering the nature of narratives and have been focusing on the role of context in contributing to a text’s construction and reception.  While our Stage 6 Drama students will use the experience to discuss the value of production elements in enhancing a performance.

In our students’ own words:

“In a small town, we were so lucky to have the opportunity to watch theatre of such high quality acting performances and production values. The set even lit on fire!” – Ky Porst
“It was an exquisite emotional ride”. – Ashton Molley
“The special effects were frightening, but in a good way, especially the naked flames”. – Brady Lambert
“It was spectacular – the set and the noise were fantastic, and the acting was amazing”. – Mariah Radburn
“I thought it was amazing, the singing was really good”. – Chelsea Atkins
“This was my first time going to a theatre, it was a lot different to watching a movie. It was such a creative experience!” – Shifa Saeed
“The stage production and all the effects were great, especially the flames. It was such a cool show”. – Matt Spiteri
“It was captivating and an intriguing story to experience” – Kiara Conway

Tim Masters
English Teacher