Charlotte Brontë’s Imagination

The Miscellany News interviews Violet Edelman, director of the performances of Joy Gregory's Dear Charlotte at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY:

The entire cast came together beautifully as an ensemble, with every actor rising to the challenges that their role provided.  Those portraying multiple characters were able to find the individuality in all of their roles, while those playing a single character were solid in carrying their arcs throughout the piece.  “Dear Charlotte” was presented in the Jade Room in Taylor Hall, a unique space that was turned utterly Victorian through the show’s lighting, costume and prop design.  Edelman’s fluid direction also made the most of the space, with the action of the play spread throughout multiple staircases and doorways. (...)
What inspired you to direct a production this semester?
I’m a Victorian studies correlate—I love the Brontës, and am taking the Brontë seminar this semester. I was interested in this play for a long time, but this seemed like the right semester given the concurrent course.(...)
What is meaning do you derive from your production?
I think it emphasizes the importance of imagination, and shows the struggles an artist must face in order to produce work in a world that is inhospitable to their imaginative creations. It also examines a lot about the time, and the ways in which Charlotte Brontë managed to break the boundaries oppressing her in the time.
Any problems/challenges that you have run into?
I know a relatively large amount about the Brontës; sometimes it’s hard not to want to pay heed every miniscule detail. The script is also unpublished. I’ve been in contact with the author, Joy Gregory, throughout the process, and she’s been a great help. But it is a struggle sometimes to deal with a work so intimately that has not been done much in the past—there is a lot of room for experimentation, but sometimes it makes it difficult to make certain decisions about the text.
Explain your production in three words
Charlotte Brontë’s imagination. (Emily Salshutz and Tim Croner)

The Times (South Africa) interviews the author Zuleika Arumoogum:

Who are some of the authors who you look up to?
When I was younger, it was people like Charles Dickens and Emily Brontë. I think Wuthering Heights will remain one of my favourite books of all time. As I got older, I found myself drawn to the writing styles of Sandra Brown, Danielle Steel, Sylvia Browne and Deepak Chopra. (Santham Pillay)

The Sunday Times carries an article about Sacha Baron Cohen's Ali G character and the city of Staines:

But our places of pilgrimage venerate the stuffy and highbrow: kings and queens, Brontë country, Hardy’s Wessex, Beatrix Potter in the Lake District, Shakespeare’s Stratford. When it comes to our more recent cultural successes we are lackadaisical and snooty. (Eleanor Mills)

Doomsday Averted posts a couple of portraits of Heathcliff (who is the scariest villain in literature according to Fourth Idea) and Catherine drawn by Celine Loup;  A Few Good Books reviews Jane Eyre 2006; Jennie's B[ook]log posts about Sharon Shinn's Jenna Starborn

Categories: Brontëites, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References