What are the secrets of Blackthorn Manor?

The Beast of Blackthorn Manor is the latest original production from Okanagan College English professor Jeremy Beaulne and The Red Dot Players.

The comedy is Beaulne’s take on the famous novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and a reflection on other gothic literature.

The inspiration came from his love of nineteenth century literature, and his trip to the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Yorkshire before the pandemic.

The story follows a young governess Charlotte Vole, who takes a job at Blackthorn Manor in the Yorkshire Moors and eventually uncovers some unsettling information. She is left to answer some questions along the way.

“It’s a spooky place, her employer is very mysterious and it’s about her discovering all his secrets,” Beaulne told Kelowna10. “We have this black shape that looms over Charlotte when she’s reading her gothic novels. “

That black shape plays a key role and represents the secrets and repression within her employer, the dashing Mr. Gastropod.

“At the end of the play, we discover the secret and what the beast’s secret is,” Beaulne added. “This is a comedy, but also a ghost story.”

“Its characters are aware they’re in a gothic novel in someway. We have a character that narrates to the audience which I think is a fun convention,” he said.

The show runs from March 9th to March 12th. Tickets can be found online.