JANE/EYRE, a queer adaptation of the classic novel, with original music by Teacup Gorilla and Dameon Merkl, is the latest original show from Grapefruit Lab. The show opens on Friday, January 17, 2025, at Buntport Theater, and runs for three weekends with performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., plus one Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. In order to make this production accessible, regardless of ability to pay, tickets are all name-your-price.
The hybrid play/concert takes a dark and often humorous look at the early feminist novel — bringing a contemporary, queer perspective to Jane’s story.
Published in 1847, Jane Eyre: An Autobiography was the first novel by Charlotte Brontë, written under the intentionally-androgynous pseudonym Currer Bell.
“We had a vague impression that authoresses are liable to be looked on with prejudice,” Brontë wrote later. The novel is entirely written from Jane’s perspective, as she takes that world of prejudice head-on — struggling with issues of class, religion, gender, and sexuality along the way.
Don’t believe the hype about Mr. Rochester, this story is much more than one romantic plot-point. “The novel has a defiant attitude from page one of the preface, refusing to be set aside” says Miriam Suzanne, who plays in the band and narrates as an older Jane, looking-back on the action.
“Brontë and Jane don’t just have a story, they have an agenda.” Julie Rada plays Brontë on stage, as she and Jane create the story together — or despite each other.
Denver actress and BETC company member, Lindsey Pierce, plays Jane in-the-action, with Joan Bruemmer-Holden, company member with Boulder’s The Catamounts, providing all the additional characters, from Rochester to several women “friends” that Jane also considers living with in the novel.
Performances are:
Friday, January 17, 2025 7:30pm
Saturday, January 18, 2025 7:30pm
Friday, January 24, 2025 7:30pm
Saturday, January 25, 2025 7:30pm [special engagement]
Sunday, January 26, 2025 2:00pm
Friday, January 31, 2025 7:30pm
Saturday, February 1, 2025 7:30pm
717 Lipan St., Denver.