WITH A MINIMUM of waste and a surplus of invention, director Julie Beckman has adapted Jane Eyre for the Book-It production now playing in ACT's cabaret space. I suppose there's room to quibble with Beckman's and Book-It's emphasis on complete narrative faithfulness -- would anything really be lost by removing superfluous lines that have actors telling us they're crossing a room? That's cavilling, though, for BrontË's gothic tale of a strong-willed orphan and her love for the brooding Lord Rochester is here treated to a staging that lovingly enlarges its source novel. When Beckman smartly turns BrontË's descriptions into revelations of character or sleek illustrations of regret (the show also boasts tasteful design from top to bottom), she is celebrating both the power of theater and the joys of a great book.

Good actors form this ensemble production, and Beckman elicits strong work from every one of them. Kymberli Colbourne, Bill Terkuile, Heather Benton, George Mount, and Amelia Zirin-Brown all do colorful, adept character turns in the challenging task of multiple roles. Specific mention should be made of Colbourne, whose superb level of craft displays both imagination and discipline; she hasn't a finger out of place. If Sherryl Ray seems a shade too guileless as young Jane, she quickly rewards your patience, maturing with seamless grace and exposing the passionate innocence of BrontË's heroine without relying on bosom-heaving effects. Jason Cottle makes some flamboyant choices as the roaring Rochester, and yes, a few of them go awry. Fortunately, his boisterous intelligence mines some surprising humor; more crucially, he and Ray and Beckman fan the flames of the novel's burgeoning romance with a moving delicacy and a fine respect for quiet gesture.

At some point during the last quarter of the evening the play's pace slackens right along with BrontË's; there's not much left but bittersweet coincidence once the first Mrs. Rochester temporarily howls away Jane's dreams. But it doesn't really hamper the success this production has in evoking the independent young woman whose "gravity, considerateness and caution were made to be the recipient of secrets."

Book-It Does Brontë Proud

Book-It Does Brontë Proud