Annie McGregor – University alumna, author and visiting Penn State University theater professor – will be a guest actress in the University Theatre production of “After Mrs. Rochester.”
“After Mrs. Rochester” explores the life of Jean Rhys, author of “Wide Sargasso Sea.” McGregor will be playing Rhys, the lead role in the play. “Wide Sargasso Sea” is about Bertha Mason, the insane wife of Edwin Rochester in Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre.”
According to a press release from the University Theatre, “After Mrs. Rochester” director John Watson worked with McGregor when she was a student.
“Annie was the lighting designer for the first show I directed at the University Theatre – more years ago than either of us wants to think about,” said Watson.
McGregor and Watson have stayed in touch since that first play. When Watson proposed “After Mrs. Rochester,” he knew he would need a guest actor to play Jean Rhys, and McGregor convinced Watson to let her take the role.
“I read ‘Jane Eyre’ for the first time when I was 10 and I think I have read it nearly every year since,” McGregor said in a press release. “I could nearly say the entire book off by heart.”
“After Mrs. Rochester” makes its West Coast debut Friday at 8 p.m. It will also run on Saturday, as well as March 9 to 12, 17 and 18.
All shows are at 8 p.m. except for performances on March 9 and 12. The show on March 9 will start at 7:30 p.m., and will feature special student pricing. The show on March 12 will benefit the ASUO Women’s Center, and begins at 2 p.m. Tickets for the benefit show should be ordered from the ASUO Women’s Center at 346-4095.
Tickets for all other performances are on sale at the University Ticket Office in the EMU. Tickets are $5 for students, $9 for seniors, University staff, and non-University students, and $12 for the general public.

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