Challenging assumptions about the Brontës

Broadway World reviews Polly Teale's Brontë on stage at Timms Centre for the Arts, Edmonton (Canada).

The austere setting is brought to life by Robert Shannon's minimalist staging and haunting lighting design while the few props include a glowing stove and kitchen table and chairs. The eldest sister, Charlotte (Jessy Ardern) is an almost maternal figure to her siblings Emily (Heeyun Park), Anne (Donna-Leny Hansen), and Branwell (David Woroner). Though the four enjoy plenty of mischievous childhood antics, the shadow of the outside world grows longer by the day. As illness runs rampant through the nearby village and the family's debts climb, the siblings channel their fears and hopes into their respective manuscripts. Charlotte devotes herself to Jane Eyre, Anne to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and Emily to Wuthering Heights.

As the play progresses, some of the sisters' most assertive novel study characters join them. Bertha Mason (Karen Gomez) prowls circles around Charlotte while Arthur Huntington (David Woroner) jeers at a frightened Anne. The interactions between a heartbroken Catherine Earnshaw (Kristin Unruh) and comforting Emily are among the show's most poignant scenes. At the same time, Branwell's failing literary career and discovered affair leaves him saddled with debts and frequent drunken rages. Meanwhile, the siblings' father, Patrick (Michael Peng), is often absent due to comforting his dying parishioners, increasing the show's foreboding atmosphere. Each performer is impeccably cast and arresting to watch as they cast light on their characters' complex hopes and dreams.

Under the direction of Amanda Goldberg, everything from Rebecca Cypher's Victorian-era costumes to the Brontës' Yorkshire brogues are vividly brought to life. The only holes in this moody period piece are the modern musical interludes, many of which dampen the dramatic tension of preceding scenes. Despite these fleeting moments, Brontë provides the audience with glimpses into Charlotte, Anne, and Emily's worlds while challenging our assumptions about these profound women. (Sarah Dussome)

The Gateway reviews it too.

Brontë follows the story of the Brontë family, focusing on the life of the three sisters: Emily (Heeyun Park), Anne (Donna-Leny Hansen), and Charlotte (Emily Lizotte). As the audience learns more about the Brontë family, we see more and more of the disfunction present in their lives, and how desperately each of them holds onto their desired realities.

Interestingly, the production uses the sisters’ books to explore their inner thoughts. For Charlotte, her desires are contrasted by the depravity of Bertha (Karen Gomez) from Jane Eyre and her own traditional values. As Emily questions the grotesque morals of society, she echoes the melancholy and regret of Cathy (Kristin Unruh) from Wuthering Heights. Unlike her two sisters, Anne engages with her work, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, the least.

However, Anne’s personality shines through in other scenes, where she acts in a carefree manner. I found Anne’s character development the most interesting throughout the production, as the further along it was, the more obvious it was that this Brontë sister was somewhere in-between the traditional Charlotte and her moody and sometimes rebellious sister, Emily. Interestingly enough, Brontë also hints at Anne’s desire for justice — most famously displayed through The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which is considered one of the first feminist novels.

Brontë also makes interesting commentary about sexism and the role women are expected to play. Although the production is set in the Victorian Era, over one century ago, many of the themes still hold true today. As Charlotte shoulders responsibility and gives up her dreams as the eldest child in her family, and Emily questions the morals of a society that forces women to act a certain way, the audience is able to connect with the family in ways that may have been impossible prior to their humanization.

Although Brontë tells the story of the Brontë sisters, their relationship with their brother Branwell (David Woroner) and their father Patrick (Michael Peng) is complex. Through the story of the whole family, the topic of sexism creates a contrast for what Branwell may do, and what is expected of the sisters.

Amanda Goldberg, director of the show, explained that although Branwell is someone who benefits from the sacrifices of his sisters, he’s also someone who suffers from the expectations for men during the period.

“During this time … geographically where these people were located, all they had was each other,” Goldberg said. “They are so dependent [on] and have such strong connections with each other, Branwell really becomes a link to the outside world because of the opportunities he had as a man growing up during that time. That can definitely relate to the privileges that men have even nowadays.”

“We got to really see see his journey that’s completely different from all the other siblings because all the other siblings are living in a world where their hopes and aspirations are too big. They’re living in a world that wasn’t built for them. Whereas Branwell … crumbles under these huge expectations that have been set for him as the only boy sibling.” [...]

“History is simply a story that someone got to tell and I think we found a lot of freedom in that kind of mantra,” Goldberg said. “We are using the story of the Brontës as a platform to tell our own story. And in our story, the Brontës aren’t untouchable celebrities.”

“They’re these people who struggle, … make terrible mistakes, and hurt people they love most in the world. It’s a play about dependence on one another, the importance of having people, [and] the importance of being loved.” (Jin He)

The Telegraph and Argus features a collection of Victorian books and publications at the Bradford Library.

Bradford Library - celebrating its 150th anniversary this year - has several book collections of national importance.

One of these, the Federer Collection, consisting of 8,000 books and pamphlets, purchased by the city library on the death of the owner Charles Antoine Federer in 1908, provides a fascinating window into Victorian Bradford. [...]

Certain items relate to Patrick Brontë and his famous literary daughters such as Abraham Holroyd’s 'Currer Bell and her sisters', 1855, and Reports of the Brontë Society & Museum, 1896. (Simon Ross Valentine)

A contributor to Stuff (New Zealand) imagines local period dramas.

No need for us to wait for the latest screen iteration of an Austen or Brontë classic to make its way off the supply boats from Britain, however. Let’s do our own versions, made in our own film studios on stunning locations and harnessing local talent. [...]

You have to agree that countless rugged South Island locales are tailor-made for Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, that passionate novel of class and destructive love originally set in the wilds of the Yorkshire moors. [...]

In the absence of any pulsating romantic classic New Zealand equivalent of an Austen or a Brontë, why not give ourselves permission to unashamedly rip off the best of British and serve it back to them? (Jane Bowron)

El País (Spain) shares the introduction written by author Elvira Lindo for a new edition of Carmen Laforet's 1940s novel Nada.

Nada se sabía de quién podía haber escrito este libro con ecos de las hermanas Brontë y, en cierto sentido, de la Rebeca de Daphne du Maurier. (Translation)

Our Culture shares '18 Beautiful Stills from Jane Eyre (2011)'. AnneBrontë.org has a post on Arthur Bell Nicholls.