Home Resources Livejournal Feed Wordpress

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Jane Eyre 2006 and... Timber?

This article is short, and there isn't much to it, really. Here we learn that the new BBC production of Jane Eyre is using massive amounts of timber to construct and reconstruct sets within Haddon Hall. There isn't much of interest for those not interested in the fact that a Yorkshire firm is providing the timber on a 'next day basis' and 'sometimes sooner.' But, there's one new hint about the style of the production:

The timber is being used to recreate a very particular period- 'the late 19th century'. We can all speculate later on how 'late' is appropriate for a book published in 1847. Dating the events in the story itself has been an ongoing debate in scholarly circles, with the current trend being that it must be in the early part of the century due to the absence of trains (people take a lot of carriages, and walks but there are no trains mentioned whatsoever). I have my reservations on that subject. Some even believe the events should take place in the 18th century. So far I have only seen evidence of one production going this route and it was a regional production of Jane Eyre: The Musical. My evidence is confined to a dance scene which looks accurate Regency period.

Apparently they are also adding fake stone arches within Haddon Hall using the timber. I can't imagine why.

No comments: