On October 12th and October 13th, the Penn Theatre students recreated, in a play, the classic novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brönte. 

Known as a gothic romance novel, Jane Eyre, is about a young woman who suffers from abrupt changes throughout her lifetime. The play transitions from young Jane, to middle-age Jane, to grown-up Jane by using three different actresses to portray the part. The little girl finds herself living in a dull environment where no one truly loves her, and only after she leaves does she find herself.

Katie Beyers played Young Jane. She explains of her character, “you’d think a little girl would be super fun and happy, but she is not.”

Kala Key, who performed as middle-aged Jane, expresses how “it is important to show the transition from [young] Jane to grown Jane because you can see a lot of development in her character and you can see how she grows and how she reacts to all the situations she goes through.”

Caroline Carrier plays older Jane and clarifies that “her outcome is really good because she gets to choose her future and she ends up independent at the end of the play…she really gets to decide her own path, which is strange for the time because feminism wasn’t as strong as it is today.”

Congratulations to all actors and crew members for their great performance and bringing Jane Eyre to life.

By Kevin McNulty

Kevin McNulty teaches English and Mass Media Studies at Penn High School. He advises the Penn News Network and manages the PNN Studio and news room. For more information, navigate your browser to www.massmediastudies.net.