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Saturday, September 08, 2018

Saturday, September 08, 2018 12:25 pm by M. in , , , , , , ,    No comments
Houston Press reviews the Houston performances of The Moors:
The Moors: A Funny and Strange Homage to the Brontë Sisters.
“How bracing!”
I can hear the call echoing over England's bleak Yorkshire moors. It's the cry from a Brontë, of that I am certain. But is it Emily's soulful plaint from Wuthering Heights, Charlotte's innocent plea from Jane Eyre, Anne's adamant door slam from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, or Branwell's addicted wail? It's all of them, of course, mixed with a hearty dose of laudanum, sweet aromas of ripe heather, and veiled references to sexual repression, dark desires, and secrets kept alive in the attic.
What a family were the Brontës, England's first literary royalty. It would take decades until the three sisters were acknowledged for their mastery, although profligate painter/poet brother Branwell was the first published author of the family but died young from opiate and alcohol poisoning. What happened in that priory house where patriarch Patrick ruled their lives?
Well, I'll tell you, or, instead, playwright Jen Silverman (The Dangerous House of Pretty Mbane; Crane Story) will tell you in her distinguished, funny, weird homage to Brontë Victoriana, The Moors, now conquering and delighting via Mildred's Umbrella's delightfully odd production. What a pleasure this is. How bracing. (...)
Under artistic director Jennifer Decker's crisp direction, this is exciting theater, done with a wink, smirk, and loving grin. Through Silverman's avatars, the Brontë sisters (and unseen brother) live again through very modern eyes. Rule Britannica. (D.L. Groover)
A walk through Haworth and Brontë country in The Telegraph & Argus:
I Have always been inspired by the wild moors of the Pennines and can fully understand how the three Brontë Sisters were inspired to write their often gloomy but world-famous novels. They lived in Haworth and this offers a base for this walk, full of interest.
It is possible to park in Haworth and set off from the car park near the Bronte Parsonage. I tend to take the car on to the minor road at the north of Penistone Hill. It shortens the walk and avoids some road walking. Just beyond the cemetery on your left is some parking, leave the car and carry on westwards towards the moors. After crossing a road follow a lane westwards with a dry stone wall on your right signposted to the Brontë Waterfall. Almost immediately you will notice the sandy element of the lane (soon becoming a track) which is a legacy of the hard sandstone bedrock. Further on it becomes like a beach in places!
The track continues for one mile before dropping gradually in to a small river bed and an idyllic picnic spot. Here is one of the favourite spots for the Brontë sisters to walk to. On entering this little enclave there is a large stone, the Brontë seat, to the left and a few metres uphill is the Brontë waterfall. Directly ahead is the Brontë Bridge.
Dragging yourself away from this spot is a challenge but do by crossing the river and heading uphill to a stile and a number of footpath choices. Take the one to the left signposted Top Withins.
Follow the footpath for a further mile, turning left when it meets the Pennine Way and you will arrive at the derelict farmhouse of Top Withins. The farmhouse is allegedly the inspiration for the building of Wuthering Heights with its fantastic views. Take a seat on one of the benches and soak it all in, I have never found anyone who is disappointed.
Return the way you came but instead of turning right downhill and back towards the Brontë Bridge carry on along the Pennine way towards the village of Stanbury. This is proper moorland walking, the purple heather at this time of the year is spectacular.
Broadway World gives some details about Cleveland's performances of the revised version of Jane Eyre. The Musical:
First seen on the Broadway stage in 2000, Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë's most famous female heroine - comes to life in this revisal of Caird and Gordon's sweeping masterpiece. A strong-willed and resilient young woman, Jane's journey to find independence brings her face to face with love, death, and an unimaginable secret. Told through a lush score, Jane Eyre has garnered a tremendous fan following worldwide, earning the musical 5 Tony Award nominations.
In Financial Times, Susie Boyt quotes a particularly touching moment in Villette:
Another example of extreme thoughtfulness I’ve long hoarded occurs in the penultimate chapter of Charlotte Brontë’s Villette. A day or two before Monsieur Paul is set to leave the school in Belgium where he and Lucy Snowe both teach, to travel on business to Guadeloupe, he takes Lucy on a walk. She is sorrowful at the idea of his long absence, but overjoyed that he has come to make her such a proper goodbye. They stop for a spell and he takes her inside a prettily furnished little house. They pause before a locked door, which Monsieur Paul opens with ceremony. “The well-scoured boards were carpetless; it contained two rows of green benches and desks . . . a teacher’s chair and table; behind them a tableau . . . in short, here was a miniature classe — complete, neat, pleasant.” I was shocked as a child when a family friend told me all kindness is essentially selfish Lucy Snowe finds her own name — astonishingly — printed on the prospectus. It is a school of her own, to keep her going, until his return! It is compensation and reward for all she has endured, from the unnamed suffering of her early years, which has hardened her, to romantic disappointments past and those, we fear, to come. It is a gift that attends to her deepest self, providing not just a living, but a new life. It is a gesture of such tremendous imaginative power that in itself it constitutes a masterpiece of care. 
The Australian reviews Kate Morton's The Clockmaker's Daughter:
It doesn't take alot of imagination to see her in a sitting room created by one of the Brontë sisters. Her hands, which she moves a lot, look in search of a piano keyboard. (Stephen Romei)
Daily Star and baby girl names:
Charlotte: Charlotte Brontë was the eldest of the three writing Brontë sisters.
She is the author of Jane Eyre, which has been dubbed the first feminist novel. She was a free-spirited woman who invented male pen names for herself and her sisters to fight literary gender bias. (Laura Mitchell)
The Northern Echo interviews the artist Richard O'Neill:
Landmarks across the region included in Richard’s vast gallery include the Brontë Parsonage at Haworth, Salts Mill in Saltaire, Whitby Abbey and the Humber Bridge, as well as nationally recognised images such as The Shard, Stonehenge, Edinburgh Castle and Blackpool Tower. (Helen Mead)
The House Magazine interviews a Brontëite on the House of Lords, Haleh Afshar, Baroness Afshar OBE FAcSS:
A “lightbulb” moment came at the age of 14, after she read Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, in French, which led her to conclude that she needed to stand on her own two feet. “I realised, if you left me on the side of the road, I wouldn’t be able to get my clothes on, let alone be a carer for somebody. So I said ‘I’m going to England’.” (Gary Connor)
Bustle publishes an excerpt of The Geography of Lost Things by Jessica Brody:
Just as the quiz spits out my result—Jane Eyre—an alarm goes off on my phone, reminding me that I’m due at Chateau Marmutt, the pet hotel where I work, for my overnight shift in thirty minutes. I basically get paid to sleep in a room surrounded by dogs. It’s not a bad gig. 
Mark Latham's column in The Spectator mentions Wuthering Heights:
Even Emily Brontë has been politicised. In the NSW curriculum, ‘Wuthering Heights is traditionally read as a novel about intense human relationships but contemporary alternative readings include a political reading, seeing it as a novel of social class and bourgeois exploitation in Victorian England, and a gendered reading, with gender stereotypes.’ Cathy thought she was coming home, but it turns out she was signing up for one of Clementine Ford’s ‘kill all men’ campaigns.
Today's Crossword in USA Today contains a Brontë-related question:
 32___ Bell (Anne Brontë)
مجلة لها (Lahab Magazine) mentions the Loewe edition of Wuthering Heights. Book-Wyrm-Knits applies the First Line Fridays + Friday 56 treatment to Jane Eyre. A series of articles on Wuthering Heights are being published on FCPA Compliance & Ethics.

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