Wuthering Heights or Heathcliff Heathcliff!

A new production staged at Schauspiel Bern (Switzerland), reimagines Wuthering Heights, exploring the boundaries of 19th-century women's writing and the enduring legacy of the Brontë sister:

Sturmhöhe oder Heathcliff Heathcliff!

by Milena Michalek

based on the novel by Emily Brontë

Direction & Adaptation: Milena Michalek

Set Design: Charlotte Pistorius

Costume Design: Lara Scherpinski

Music: Yvi Philipp

Lighting: Hanspeter Liechti

Dramaturgy: Julia Fahle

September 14, 19 ; October 16, 22, 31 ; November 9, 20 ; December 28; January 10 @19.30 h

September 29 @16.00 h

 Bühnen Bern, im Stadttheater, Kornhausplatz, Bern, Switzerland

What was a woman allowed to write in the 19th century? The Brontë sisters would say: everything. And that's exactly what they did, initially under male pseudonyms. When it was revealed that women were behind the novels, the reception of the time changed dramatically: Valued literature became a mystical vision, the writing genius became a mad woman. Today, the novels of the "brutal Brontës" are classics of English literature. Alongside Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights is the sisters' most famous novel. Numerous artists have engaged with the text published in 1847, including Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Kate Bush, and Mithu Sanyal. At Schauspiel Bern, young author and director Milena Michalek takes on the material.

Sturmhöhe is a psychological family drama, ghost story, brutal fairy tale, and not least, a great love story. Heathcliff, an orphan, is taken in by the Earnshaw family and develops a close bond with Catherine, the daughter of the house. But due to their different backgrounds, this love is impossible. Catherine marries a wealthy man, upon which Heathcliff swears revenge.