A story about the power of words

Narc features Underdog: The Other Other Brontë and some wraparound events scheduled for June.

Northern Stage is a hub of unique productions, the most recent of which being Underdog: The Other Other Brontë, a play exploring the sibling dynamics that drove the Brontë sisters to fame, driven by jealousy. Natalie Ibu, Northern Stage’s Artistic Director, is making her directorial debut with this work, and claimed she knew that she should direct it “immediately after reading it”. As the summary says, it is not a story about well-behaved women. It’s a story about the power of words.

Gemma Whelan, best known as Yara Greyjoy in Game of Thrones, plays Charlotte Brontë, Adele James plays Emily Brontë, and Rhiannon Clements plays Anne, the eponymous ‘Underdog’. The play analyses the competitive aspects between each of the sisters, showing how they each develop as people and begin clashing with each other. It’s already won the 2020 Nick Drake Writers Award for Sarah Gordon, who previously wrote The Edit, which toured nationally. 

Accompanying the production itself, which is at Northern Stage from Friday 7th -Saturday 22nd June, a series of wraparound events will also take place. Here, we check out what’s on offer. (...)

Creative Literature

Writer Karen Powell will be discussing her new book Fifteen Wild Decembers on Friday 14th June. The book, which was shortlisted for the 2023 Nero Book Awards, has been described as “atmospheric and raw”, and is a fictionalised biography of the sisters’ lives. It discusses Emily Brontë’s life from her childhood to her early death, and is from her perspective throughout. 

Her earlier book, The River Within, was awarded the Northern Writers TLC New Fiction Reads Prize as a draft. Book worms should also head to The Bound’s pop-up book market (12th-18th June), which will offer a curated collection of books written by groundbreaking women authors.

Live Music

In 2018, North East folk artists The Unthanks, beloved for their harmonies and connection to the region’s songs and traditions, were commissioned to create a new piece of work based on Emily Brontë’s poems for her 200th birthday. Their song cycle, Lines – Part Three: Emily Brontë, was recorded on her own piano, and they will be performing excerpts of the album and discussing the creation and process behind it on Saturday 15th June.

If a bit of Kate Bush is more up your street, Wednesday 12th June will see the Newcastle debut of Wuthering Nights, a club night celebrating her work. Expect costumes, a truly incredible amount of smoke machines, and faithful recreations of her famously expressive dancing. (Phoenix Atkinson)

The Telegraph and Argus reports that the former Haworth bed and breakfast Ashmount is now on the market as a residential property.

Once a popular bed and breakfast and events venue, Ashmount in Haworth is a 160-year old property full of character period features.

The doctor of the famous Brontë family is among the home’s previous residents.

It has been listed with a guide price of £800,000.

The detached property has breathtaking views across the surrounding countryside. 

It is described as “one of the grandest homes in the tourist hotspot of Haworth” by Dacre, Son & Hartley.

Ian Bradbury, director at Dacre, Son & Hartley’s Keighley office, said: “This is a well-known property close to the bustling centre of Haworth and all its attractions, as well as its glorious countryside, which attracts thousands of tourists every year and was the inspiration for many of the Bronte sisters’ world-famous poems and novels. 

“Although Ashmount has been a popular five-star bed and breakfast in recent years and hosted many events and weddings, it now has planning permission to be sold as a single, very spacious residential dwelling, which offers buyers numerous compelling options.” (Natasha Meek)