Grapefruit Lab musical production turns the Brontë novel on its head

Grapefruit Lab calls its production of Jane/Eyre a queer rock adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 bildungsroman. But this one is pretty hard to pin down.

Sure, some of the female characters flirt and kiss, but it’s hardly a total rewrite of the story where the protagonist is mostly in love with the gloomy Mr. Rochester. But there is rock — at least as the genre is interpreted by Teacup Gorilla, which provides live accompaniment along with suitably brooding vocals written and mumbled by Dameon Merkl (and I mean that in the best way).

Having never read the novel, I was at a bit of a disadvantage at first as I tried to get my footing on where this story was going. After 15 minutes of feeling lost at sea, I got my bearings and settled down to really enjoy this one-of-a-kind production remounted by popular demand.

High-speed storytelling

Sliced, diced and condensed into a story portrayed by just three actors, Jane/Eyre takes plenty of liberties with the plot as well as the manner in which it’s acted out. Along with having a pretty cool band providing mood music at select times, there’s also inventive use of an overhead projector displaying the kinds of title cards you might see in a silent film. It’s a peculiar and charming effect that added a kind of instructional element to the show.

Jane herself is portrayed primarily by Lindsey Pierce, but also at times by the band’s bassist Miriam Suzanne as a narrator and Julie Rada as Currer Bell — the nom de plume under which Brontë published the original novel. Rounding out the cast is an on-fire Joan Bruemmer-Holden playing multiple roles with a surfeit of verve and intensity. One minute she’s an unpleasant aunt in a whacky hat; the next she’s portraying Mr. Rochester and others.

As the main Jane, Pierce is intense, bustling between scenes with occasional asides where she speaks directly into a cellphone with the live stream projected on a screen behind the band. It’s a neat gimmick that serves to underscore these important bits of exposition helping move the story along.

Pierce is effective as the ingenue trying to work her way through all these people wanting something from her. She’s especially befuddled by the attentions of Rochester, who seems to disdain her as much as he longs for her. We later discover he’s married already to Bertha, who he’s locked away in a room and is the source of the odd howling laughter heard in the house.

As Currer Bell, Rada is a delight as the powerful Jane — the one capable of creating a groundbreaking work often described as an early example of first-person prose in a novel. Rada flies all over the place depicting Bell and others, with one particularly memorable scene finding her blasting out from under the stage and laying waste to the set.

By the time the show winds to its end, the carnage is so extensive that there’s almost no place left for the actors to act. It’s a fitting conclusion to a titillating adaptation of Jane Eyre that moves at high speed, racing through the chapters with Teacup Gorilla’s accompaniments creating another level of curiosity and interest.

If straight, two-act plays with classical structure are more your thing, Jane/Eyre may be tough sledding. But if you’re up for a bit of a lark that flips this gothic novel on its ear in all the most peculiar ways, try to make it to the final weekend of the show this weekend. You may exit feeling a bit dizzy and disoriented, but you’ll also likely be keen to see what Grapefruit Lab is up to next.