Dear Charlotte in Poughkeepsie

Joy Gregory's Dear Charlotte is on stage at the Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY:

Picture credits: Juliana Halpert/The Miscellany News (Source)

The Philaletheis Society presents
Dear Charlotte
by Joy Gregory
Taylor Hall’s Jade Room
Thursday, November 4 at 9:00pm, and Friday, November 5, and Saturday, November 6, at 8:00pm
Dear Charlotte is an “exploration of the development of Charlotte Brontë’s imagination and the cultivation of her literary prowess, which explores the challenges of writing and publishing as a woman in Victorian Britain,” according to Philaletheis member Violet Edelman.

Cast here.

 The college newspaper, The Miscellany News, has more information:

Explained Andrew Yankes '12, who plays the father, Reverend Patrick Brontë, "‘Dear Charlotte' is an intellectual coming of age [story]."
Charlotte Brontë used male pseudonyms like Currer Bell throughout her career to conceal her gender, something the play addresses from the outset; the opening scene depicts Charlotte revealing to a publisher her actual identity as a woman. Though this first scene establishes Charlotte as an adult, the majority of the play is set in her childhood, portraying her experience growing up with her sisters and their father, a stern and remote figure. The majority of the first act centers on this formative age in the family's development. "We see the real children who became these authors," said Yankes.
"Dear Charlotte," is hardly a coy look into the biographies of the Victorian authors or a wink at those who remember their Brit Lit summer reading in high school. The play reckons with the struggles of the family to explore their blossoming creativity despite the structures imposed upon them by society. As one character in the play puts it, writing would "excite women and distract them from their proper duty."
The first act of the play presents much of the sisters' juvenilia, showing the wistful genesis of their creative development. The hope is to portray these canonical literary figures as human—to depict the germination of extraordinary talent within a family context. But though the play lets the family's creativity shine through, they are also constrained by social norms of the era. "There are two struggles," said Yankes, "both personal and societal, very much wrapped up in each other."
The characters each deal with the tensions between the personal and social realm in their own unique way.In describing Charlotte, played by Hannah Schenk '14, Yankes said, "She has a wonderfully restrained style, a lot bubbling under the surface." Of the brother Branwell played by Ben Reichman '11, Yankes said: "He is darkly humorous, playful but sardonic." The constrained emotion does not compromise the vibrant scenes of adolescence. "We see very silly moments, the acting out of youthful imaginations. It is the counterpart to a serious work set in a society in which emotions must be reined in," explained Yankes. (...)
The cast will make good use of the play's unique location, transforming the Jade Room's dramatic stairway into the back of the stage. "It has a semi-gothic feel that is true to the show," said director Violet Edelman '12. She added: "The biggest challenge in preparing the show was not working in a conventional theatrical space." Characters will interact with the room by entering and exiting through the large marble staircase.
As the name suggests, the performance spotlights a series of letters read aloud in excerpted form. The epistles are written to and from members of the family and to the literary figures who influenced the burgeoning authors.
The play features a multitude of texts, including the early work of the sisters as well. The decision to include passages from letters allows for the audience to understand the growing and sometimes painful development of a writer. It also juxtaposes the Brontës as human beings from the literary icons they would become. (Connor O'Neill)

Categories: Theatre