Withering Looks

Thanks to this review from The Independent, we have found out about a Manchester-based comic duo called Lip Service that stage a parody of the Brontës called Withering Looks. They throw anything Brontë-related into the mix and this is what they come up with:

An authentic insight into the lives and works of those three Bronte sisters (well, two of them actually, Anne's just popped out for a cup of sugar). Who is the Brontes' mysterious neighbour, Mr. Moorcock of Ravaged Heath House, and what does the maniacal laughter coming from his attic mean? Do unfulfilled souls really wander over the wild and heather-clad moors? Who should Cathy marry, Heathcliff or David Niven? Directed by Noreen Kershaw, designed by Kevin Wrench and Andrew Franks. Music by Ian Heywood.

Click here to see their official website. And here to watch a clip from this parody (note: it's 6.5mb so click at your own risk if you don't have a highspeed connection or lots of patience).

This is what The Independent says about Withering Looks:

"Withering Looks," adds Ryding, "is not so much a parody of Wuthering Heights as what everybody knows about the Brontës - that there were three of them, they wrote Pride and Prejudice and one of them was called Jane Eyre." That show sold out its entire run the day booking opened at the Edinburgh Festival's Assembly Rooms, was lined up for a West End transfer - which never materialised - and secured the pair a Radio 4 series which got them nominated for a Writers Guild Award.

We love the way they play with what people seem to take for granted so misguidedly. When we first started this blog we came across an awful lot of people misnaming and mislabeling the Brontës. It now has died down a bit though, alas, we are not so conceited as to think it's due to us :P

Categories: Theatre, Humour, In_the_News