“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.”
Arcola Theatre and Green Opera proudly present John Joubert’s Jane Eyre—his final opera, now fully staged for the first time.
First heard in concert with the English Symphony Orchestra under Kenneth Woods, this bold adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s novel follows one woman’s fight for freedom and fulfilment on her own terms. Facing adversity, injustice, and a shattering betrayal, Jane’s journey unfolds through a dynamic cast of young performers, directed by Eleanor Burke.
As Green Opera’s second production of the season and fifth for the Grimeborn Opera Festival, Jane Eyre continues the company’s mission to combine dramatic vision with environmentally conscious practices.
SEATS FOR SEEDS: For every ticket sold, Green Opera plants a tree with Eden Reforestation Projects.
Trailblazing sustainability projects as part of our core business, Arcola Theatre aims to be the world’s first carbon neutral theatre. Initiated in 2007 as the Arcola Energy Project, Arcola’s vision for a sustainable, equitable and creative future is at the heart of all we do.
In 2010 we set up Arcola Energy Ltd to take forward technology development and commercial elements. Arcola Energy specialised in the integration of hydrogen and fuel cells, with a reputation for capturing end-user needs, strong industry partnerships and low-cost UK manufacturing. Arcola Theatre worked closely with Arcola Energy, particularly on renewable energy projects until it was acquired in 2021.
Since 2012, all organisations that receive regular funding from Arts Council England have to report on their environmental performance. We’ve reduced our carbon footprint by more than 25%. Read more about our sustainability mission here.
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Running time
2 hours 20 minutes -
Age guidance
12+
The Company
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Laura Mekhail
Jane Eyre
Laura Mekhail
Jane Eyre
Laura Mekhail is an Egyptian soprano and the second recipient of the prestigious Andrea Bocelli Foundation – Community Jameel Scholarship. A graduate of the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London, she holds a master’s degree in performance, where she studied with renowned soprano Sarah Tynan.
At RCM, she performed a wide range of roles, including Frasquita in Carmen, Amor in Cavalli’s L’Egisto, and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Opera Scenes). She also appeared as Bianca in Puccini’s La Rondine, Mab in Jonathan Dove’s The Enchanted Pig, and sang in chorus for Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, and Respighi’s La bella dormente nel bosco.
In 2023, Laura made her UK operatic debut as Rose in Jake Heggie’s At the Statue of Venus with Green Opera Company. She has performed internationally across Europe, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, including a landmark recital at the Pyramids of Giza. She has also shared the stage with Maestro Andrea Bocelli in concerts in Al-Ula and Pompeii.
In 2025, Laura debuted as Gianetta in Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love and is covering Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin with Wild Arts Opera Company. -
Hector Bloggs
Edward Rochester
Hector Bloggs
Edward Rochester
Hector Bloggs is a young British Baritone who has just finished the Opera Course at GSMD under the tutelage of John Evans. Operatic roles include the title role in Don Giovanni, Sid in Albert Herring, Silvio in Pagliacci, Dr Falke and Frank in Die Fledermaus, and Cacambo/Pangloss/Voltaire in Candide. This summer he made his Glyndebourne debut as Fiorello in Il Barbiere Di Siviglia. Last year Hector made his Wigmore Hall debut in a Thomas Quastoff Masterclass, where he has since returned for the Kathleen Ferrier 2025 Finals. He has performed multiple times at the Barbican, most recently in La Rondine with the LSO under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano. Hector is a Gwen Catley Scholar, funded by the Amar-Franses & Foster-Jenkins Trust, a Drake Calleja Scholar 2024-25, First Place in the Courtney Kennedy Award and Keith Bonnington Award, and a Samling Artist. In the new year he will cover Il Conte D’Almaviva in Le Nozze Di Figaro at Opera North.
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Anna Sideris
Soprano: Sarah / Leah / Diana Rivers
Anna Sideris
Soprano: Sarah / Leah / Diana Rivers
“The rich layers of Anna Sideris’ appealing lyric soprano, conveyed sensual sauciness and flashed with feistiness…” (Claire Seymour, Opera Magazine). Anna’s recent and upcoming operatic performances include: Tosca in Becoming Tosca (Puccini & Moon) for Prologue Opera, Violetta in La Traviata (Verdi) and First Lady in The Magic Flute (Mozart) for Oxford Opera, Borka in Borka (Hepplewhite and Yelland) for Ignite Music, Yum Yum in The Mikado (Gilbert and Sullivan) for Merry Opera and Giulia Grisi in Victorian Pantomime at Kensington Palace. Anna performed as the actress in 555:Verlaine en Prison a piece created by Burke and Lopez which has been performed at the Royal Opera House (UK), La Monnaie (Belgium) and the Arcola Theatre. Anna is a passionate teaching artist. She was Head of Outreach for Alina Orchestra, she designed and delivered Restoration for Oxford Opera – a singing program to help those living with Long Covid, she has worked for Grange Park Opera on their Primary Robbins scheme and was involved in LikeUnlike and Time Capsule for the Grange Festival.
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Emily Hodkinson
Mezzo: Mrs Fairfax / Mary Rivers
Emily Hodkinson
Mezzo: Mrs Fairfax / Mary Rivers
Nottingham-born mezzo-soprano, Emily Hodkinson, is a graduate of the University of York and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Opera School.
Engagements in 2024-25 include her debut with The Hallé, her debut at Glyndebourne as Sylviana in The Merry Widow, Olga in Eugene Onegin (Wild Arts), What Dreams May Come (English Touring Opera), Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro (Saffron Opera Group), the Angel in The Dream of Gerontius (Nottingham Harmonic Choir and Newbury Choral Society) and Testament (Green Opera).
She was a recipient of the Sybil Tutton Opera Award, the winner of the Rodney Gibson Early Music Prize at the Patricia Routledge National English Song Competition, the Liz Chant Bursary Competition and the John & Barbara Beaumont Bursary Competition.
When not singing, Emily can be found repairing watches and helping at the family pick-your-own farm, growing thousands of pumpkins and sunflowers! -
Lawrence Thackeray
Tenor: Richard Mason / Rev. St John Rivers
Lawrence Thackeray
Tenor: Richard Mason / Rev. St John Rivers
Lawrence’s Operatic career has seen him performing the roles of Rodolfo (La Boheme), Alfredo (La Traviata), Tamino (The Magic Flute), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Peter Quint (The Turn of the Screw), Ruggero (La Rondine), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Don Jose (Carmen), Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen), Gonsalve (L’heure Espagnole), Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Beppe (Pagliacci), Guido Bardi (Eine florentinische Tragödie), Mr. Rushworth (Mansfield Park) and Don Basillio (Le Nozze di Figaro) amongst others.
Companies worked for include Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Opera North, Wexford Festival Opera, Garsington Opera, Beijing International Music Festival, Al Bustan Festival Lebanon, Grange Park Opera, West Green House Opera, Toronto International Music Festival, Waterperry Opera Festival, Pavillion Opera, Silent Opera, Opera Ireland, Bergen National Opera Norway, Opera Theatre Company Ireland, Lyric Opera Productions Ireland.
Away from the stage Lawrence enjoys his Kamado BBQ Oven, Manchester Utd and (above all) chasing after his 4 year old son Ted! -
Alexander Semple
Baritone: Briggs / Brocklehurst
Alexander Semple
Baritone: Briggs / Brocklehurst
Alexander studies at the Royal College of Music under Russell Smythe. His repertoire includes Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Ferryman (Curlew River), Tarquinius (Rape of Lucretia), It (Cupboard Love), and Alidoro (La Cenerentola), with highlights from Don Alfonso (Così fan Tutte), Superintendent Bud (Albert Herring), Sulpice (La Fille du Régiment) and Mr Koffner (The Consul). This Summer, Alexander covered roles in the RCM’s Love, Conflict, Renaissance (dir. Thomas Allen), appeared as a soloist alongside the BBC National Chorus of Wales for Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and is thrilled to join Green Opera for this production of Jane Eyre. This Autumn, he is excited to be playing Harašte in an RCM production of The Cunning Little Vixen (dir. Orpha Phelan). Alexander is a Drake Calleja Scholar, James Bowman Young Artist (Vache Baroque), and is gratefully supported by the Linbury Scholarship, the Josephine Baker Trust, and the Choir Association of St John’s College, Cambridge.
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Chris Murphy
Bass: Rev. Wood
Chris Murphy
Bass: Rev. Wood
Chris Murphy is a versatile Bass-Baritone who studied at the University of York and is currently under the tutelage of Gary Coward. After completing his studies at York, Chris moved to Oxford to pursue a career in singing, initially focusing on ensemble work. Following the pandemic, he shifted his focus toward a career in opera.
Previous operatic roles include Don Magnifico in Rossini’s La Cenerentola (HGO), Tom in Verdi’s A Masked Ball (Opera on Location), Dr Falke in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (St Paul’s Opera), Sleep in Purcell’s Fairy Queen (HGO), Tsar Dodon in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Golden Cockerel (Orchestra Vox), Sam in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti (Cumbria Opera Group), and Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Orchestra Vox). Chris has also been sought after for solo engagements, including the John Passion with Christ Church Cathedral Oxford and Wye Choral Society, Faure Requiem with Penshurst Choral Society, and Duruflé’s Requiem with Sussex Chorus. Chris is also in demand as an ensemble singer working with choirs and consort groups across the UK and London. -
Steffi Fashokun
Bertha Mason
Steffi Fashokun
Bertha Mason
Steffi Fashokun is a contemporary dance artist based in London. She trained at London Contemporary Dance School and graduated in 2023.
While training she learnt many dance disciplines and worked with a wide range of choreographers, such as Alethia Antonia and FUBUNATION.
Since graduating she has worked with multiple choreographers and directors, including Walker Movement Company, Follow Through Collective, Samara Langham and Elisabeth Mulenga. She has performed at venues such as Sadlers Wells Theatre, The Place Theatre, Curve Theatre Leicester.
In addition to performance, Steffi works as a dance teacher across age groups and abilities.
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John Joubert
Composer
John Joubert
Composer
Born in Cape Town in 1927, John Joubert’s compositional career stretched over 70 years. His catalogue includes over 180 opus numbers, ranging from operas, major orchestral works, concertos for oboe, bassoon, violin, cello and piano, chamber and instrumental music, through to short carols and anthems and a series of major choral-orchestral pieces that place him at the forefront of composers of the generation after Britten and Tippett.
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Eleanor Burke
Director
Eleanor Burke
Director
Eleanor Burke is an award-winning English/Irish director and the Founder of Green Opera. Burke was recently chosen by Robert Carsen, winner of the Grand Prix of the French Academy des Beaux-Arts 2023/2024, to be one of the three artists to share the prize fund.
At 23, Burke became the youngest director ever accepted onto the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, London where she has directed the UK-premiere of Larmes de couteau by Bohuslav Martinu and the Jette Parker Artists Summer Performance.
Burke won an Off West End Award for her productions of Eugene Onegin and The Cunning Little Vixen (both for Hampstead Garden Opera) and was a semi-finalist in the 2025 European Opera-directing Prize.
Other recent projects include Burke/Lopez Gonzalez, 555: Verlaine en Prison (The Royal Opera House/ Arcola Theatre/ La Monnaie); La Voix humaine (King’s Head Theatre, London); Bluebeard’s Castle (Arcola Theatre).
This season Burke has worked as a Staff Director for The Royal Opera House, Wiener Staatsoper and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, working with directors including Robert Icke, Ted Huffman and Lydia Steier. -
Alex Gotch
Movement Director
Alex Gotch
Movement Director
Alex is a Director, Movement Director and Choreographer. He was a semi-finalist in the European Opera-directing Prize 2025. His credits as Associate Director include La Cenerentola (English Touring Opera) and Pelleas et Melisande (Longborough Festival Opera). As Movement Director/Choreographer – The Rake’s Progress (English Touring Opera), Eugene Onegin (Hampstead Garden Opera), Jane Eyre (Arcola), The Marriage of Figaro (Waterperry Opera Festival), Dido and Aeneas (Theatre Royal Bath), Don Giovanni Tenorio (Royal College of Music), A Little Night Music (LAMDA), Carmen (St Paul’s Opera) and Revival Choreographer for The Marriage of Figaro (Garsington Opera). As Assistant Director – La Bella Dormente nel Bosco and L’enfant et les Sortilleges (Royal College of Music), The Pilgrim’s Progress (British Youth Opera) and The Coronation of Poppea (English Touring Opera). As a performer he has worked most recently at the Royal Opera House for their productions of Eugene Onegin, Hansel & Gretel, and Festen.
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Kenneth Woods
Musical Director / Conductor
Kenneth Woods
Musical Director / Conductor
Kenneth Woods is Artistic Director of the English Symphony Orchestra, the Elgar Festival and Colorado MahlerFest. His UK guest conducting includes the Royal Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra,. His groundbreaking work in bringing to light the music of suppressed composers has resulted in dozens of world-premiere recordings of works by composers such as Hans Gál, Erwin Schulhoff, Ernst Krenek, Walter Arlen, Hans Krása and Viktor Ulmmann. He has received multiple Gramophone Editor’s Choice selections as both cellist and conductor. Under his leadership, the ESO are pursuing one of the most active and productive commissioning programmes in the world, including the groundbreaking 21st Century Symphony Project. Recent operatic highlights include Die Walüre, Bluebeard’s Castle and Der Kaiser von Atlantis. Ken is also an avid guitarist whose recent debut rock album Silent Spike was hailed as “one of the most important musical statements of the year” by Apricot Magazine.
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Peggy Wu
Associate Musical Director / Associate Conductor
Peggy Wu
Associate Musical Director / Associate Conductor
Hong Kong-born conductor and pianist Peggy Wu is a current Jette Parker Artist at the Royal Opera House. In the 2024/25 season, she made her Royal Opera debut conducting Telemann’s Pimpinone at the Linbury Theatre with the English National Opera Orchestra, and her main stage debut conducting scenes from Luisa Miller and Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Royal Opera House Orchestra. At the Royal Opera, Peggy has served as assistant conductor on Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti / A Quiet Place and the JPAP Double Bill, while working as répétiteur on Semele, La bohème, and Il Trovatore.
She completed her Master of Music in Conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2024 under Martyn Brabbins, working with orchestras including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Additional conducting experience includes the London Sinfonietta, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Berlin Sinfonietta, and Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Peggy was a Royal Philharmonic Society Conductors Programme fellow, Britten Pears Young artist, and International Conducting Competition Rotterdam semi-finalist. -
Thomas Ang
Repetiteur / Arrangement
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Emeline Beroud
Production Designer
Emeline Beroud
Production Designer
Emeline Beroud is a designer and artist working across theatre, film and fine art. Her design practice is rooted in eco, site-specific and sculptural processes. Emeline is delighted to be collaborating once again with Green Opera at the Arcola!
Design: Onegin, (Jacksons Lane); King Harald’s Saga, (Waterperry Opera Festival); Carmen, (Into Opera); Hansel and Gretel, (St Paul’s Opera); Bluebeard’s Castle, (Arcola Theatre); Til Death do us Part, (Theatre 503); Blackadder Goes Forth, Twelfth Night, Little Shop of Horrors; (Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival), Spring Operas Triple Bill, (Sherman Theatre); Hamlet, (Minack Theatre); Umuada, (King’s Head Theatre); Nowhere Orange, (Theatre N16); Into The Heights, (Stockwell Playhouse), Equus, (Bedlam Theatre); Bare Threads, (The Space); Verge of Strife, (Assembly George Sqr).
Assistant design: The Fifth Step, (Soho Place), Die Glass Menagerie, (Theatre Basel); Taming of the Shrew, (Shakespeare’s Globe); Visit from an Unknown Woman, (Hampstead Theatre); No Pay? No Way!, (Manchester Royal Exchange); Cunning Little Vixen, (Jackson’s Lane), Little Women in Black, (Wardrobe Theatre); LUDO, CLAPPING & AFTERIMAGE, (National Dance Theatre Wales). -
Trui Malten
Lighting Designer
Trui Malten
Lighting Designer
Trui Malten lights theatre, opera, dance and performance pieces.
This is the fifth collaboration with Eleanor Burke! Trui lit Blue Beard’s Castle – Bartok, at Grimeborn; Eugene Onegin – Tchaikovsky and Cunning Little Vixen – Janacek for HGO and Carmen – Bizet for CUOS. Trui Malten just designed sets and lights for Angels in America at Dickinson’s College and Another Goodbye, which is currently touring the UK. Other Opera’s include Romeo and Juliette – Berlioz, in Łódź Poland; Il Matrimonio Segreto, – Cimarosa in Pescara; Queen of Spade – Tchaikovsky, at Palau de les Arts, Valencia; Little Black Cat – devised, for Cambridge Youth Opera; Tamerlano – Handel, for CHOC Cambridge. She often collaborates with New International Encounter; she lit Hansel and Gretel; Grand Soft Day; Snow Queen; Snow White; I will be Everything; and Beauty and the Beast.
Upcoming: NIE’s Snow White at the New Victory in New York. -
Oscar Simms
Assistant Director
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Bea Viña
Costume Supervisor
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Rachel Luff
Production Manager
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Florence Carruthers
Stage Manager (on book)
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Juliet Hague
Cover Stage Manager
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Ash Howard
Assistant Stage Manager
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Juliette Georges
Tapestry Maker
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Dan Southwell
Carpenter
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Tess Bentley
Scenic Painter
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Ana Ortuña Floria
Design Assistant
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Emily Nelson
Wardrobe
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Sammy Emmins
Lighting Programmer
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Xanthe Babcock
Placement
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Alex Harmon
Oboe / Cor Anglais
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Aleem Kandour
Violin
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Daniil Zemtstov
Viola
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Thomas Vidal
Cello
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Evangeline Tang
Double Bass
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David Wheeler
Horn
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Lewis Graham
Clarinet
Many thanks to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, The Miller Centre, South London Theatre, Angels Costume Hire, National Costume Hire, Work and Play Scrap Store, Arthub Studios.