The Brontës as People, not as Myth

As we have announced previously, tomorrow, March 20, the Remy Bumppo Company will premiere Polly Teale's Brontë in Chicago. Remember that we have a 2x1 promotion for BrontëBlog readers for the March performances.
(Photo credits: Simone Bonde)

Brontë by Polly Teale
Directed by James Bohnen
Featuring Artistic Associates Gregory Anderson and Linda Gillum
Playing at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
March 20 - May 4, 2008
7:30 PM
Sundays: 2:30 PM
Complete Schedule

Cast
Carrie A. Coon ... Emily
Susan Shunk ... Charlotte
Rachel Sondag ... Anne
Gregory Anderson ... Branwell
Linda Gillum ... Bertha/Cathy
Patrick Clear ... Patrick

Creative/Production
James Bohnen ... Director
Patia Bartlett ... Stage Manager
Tim Morrison ... Scenic Designer
Judith Lundberg ... Costume Designer
Richard Norwood ... Lighting Designer
Ross Moreno ... Properties Designer
Lindsay Jones ... Sound Designer

This inventive drama, originally developed by the U.K.’s acclaimed Shared Experience Theatre Company, examines the lives of three of the most studied and discussed writers of all time. Spurred by their brother’s tumultuous personal life, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë write from their remote home on the Yorkshire moors. The real and the imagined collide as the characters the sisters have created come to life. Polly Teale’s Bronte explores the question of how a trio of Victorian spinsters could have produced some of the most passionate literature ever written.

James Bohnen, the Artistic Director of Remy Bumppo and director of this production of Brontë has been so kind as to answer a few questions. Our thanks also to Christopher Carr from the Marketing Department of the Theatre:

BrontëBlog: Why did you decide on such a play as Brontë? Were you acquainted with Polly Teale's work before?
James Bohnen: I loved the energy in the theatricality and the life-giving energy despite all the sadness. I knew her work through reading, and had seen After Miss Rochester.

BB: What has been the most difficult thing about this production? Have there been many challenges?
JB: It is a very challenging piece. The swiftness of scenes, the way they bounce around in time, the fact that there is so much known about the sisters – and finding ways to use that information, but still stay in the play’s story, which compresses events and re-orders things somewhat.

BB: Could you tell us about the direction of the play?
JB: Just lots of hard work and listening to the hearts and minds of the actors.

BB: Could you describe the stage, props, etc. for us?
JB: The stage is much as described in the text. Simple, sturdy furniture, the outline of the rooms delineated with tape on the floor. We have a section of wall and a door frame and a long, sweeping panoramic view of the moor and sky that penetrates the house.

BB: An American company - the Acting Company - recently toured the US with their production of Jane Eyre, another Brontë-related play by Polly Teale - did you get to see this? If so, what were your impressions?
JB: I did not see this, but the printed edition has a wonderful introduction written by Ms. Teale that I found very helpful in the preparations for Brontë.

BB: Also, a little over a year ago the Wellesley Summer Theatre Company performed Brontë - did you get to see this?
JB: Alas, no. I work at a Shakespeare Festival in the summers.

BB: And have you ever seen any of the three Brontë-related plays by Polly Teale staged by the British company Shared Experience?
JB: I saw After Mrs Rochester and enjoyed it enormously. I was fascinated by her mixture of the factual and the fictional and how she telescoped time.

BB: What do you think the audience will enjoy most about Brontë?
JB: I hope they stay engaged with the women as people, not as myth.

BB: Brontë is a ground-breaking play in many aspects, what do you think the audience will get to carry home with them afterwards?
JB: I hope they take home a bit of the Brontë’s courage, determination and passion.

Categories: Theatre