Awards and Piracy

Iconic female leads in The Times of India:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre is the story of an orphaned girl who overcomes a harsh upbringing to become a governess at Thronfield Hall. Jane's character is iconic for her strong sense of morality, independence, and determination to live life on her own terms. (Aakanksha Sharma)

Cortland Standard talks about the awards received by the musical In Emily's Words which has been performed by SUNY Cortland students:

SUNY Cortland students have helped shape the creation of an award-winning new musical.

The show “In Emily’s Words” follows the life of Emily Brontë, the author of “Wuthering Heights,” as she discovers her passion for storytelling while navigating the plotlines of her novel.

The musical took home four awards, including best new musical, at the New Works Festival, held in New York City from May 28 to June 8. The festival highlights plays and musicals ready for their first developmental production, the SUNY Cortland website says.

Jessy Tomsko, who wrote the music, lyrics and script, aside from Brontë’s contributions, said she first read “Wuthering Heights” 15 years ago. She always wanted to write a musical adaptation of the novel, but shelved the project for a while after not being able to think of the perfect angle.

“I was out walking in early 2020, and suddenly the idea came to me, literally stopping me in my tracks,” Tomsko said. “Emily Brontë herself would be the main character, and the story and its characters would come to life in her eyes – interacting with her, trying to control the narrative; fighting for their agency and immortality.”

The festival is put on by CreateTheater, a company that develops playwright’s ideas until the show is ready to be staged. In February, the company put on readings of “In Emily’s Words,” at SUNY Cortland, starring the school’s musical theater students.

Olivia Celis, who played Brontë, wasn’t even aware she was up for best female lead in a musical when she found out she won.

“I’ve always wanted to be a part of a workshop of a musical, and it’s been everything I hoped it would be,” Celis said. “We got to learn original music, I got one-on-one time with the director, Kevin Halpin, to dig deeper into my character and her objective in the show, and the entire cast and creative team just got creative and had fun with what’s been given to us.” (Lily Byrne)

The Olympian talks about the current Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland: 

Of the six plays currently running, just three — “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Macbeth” and the rarely presented “Coriolanus” — are by Shakespeare. Also happening are three contemporary plays, including an adaption of Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre.” (...)

Williamson’s “Eyre” showcases the feminism of Charlotte Brontë’s Gothic romance, widely considered the first feminist novel, and offers reminders — including costumes in which women wear pants beneath open-front skirts — how little has changed since Brontë’s time. (Molly Gilmore)

DC Theater Arts covers the current performances of Jen Silverman's The Moors in Washington D.C.:

Faction of Fools practices the Renaissance-era form of commedia dell’arte. The company’s philosophy also encompasses the notion of paradox: They infuse the tradition of masked physical comedy with contemporary ideas, making it fearfully and wonderfully accessible to a modern audience.

The Moors, inspired by the Brontës, is like that too; it is demonstrably designed to be happening right here, right now. (...)

As in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, the governess Emilie (Jasmine Proctor) arrives at a house in the middle of the mysterious moors. Unlike the reticent and morally exacting Jane, Emilie is giddy and eager to please. She is intrigued by letters she has received from a “Master Branwell” and looks forward to meeting him and assuming her position. Proctor’s performance as Jasmine is full of lightning changes of mood and exceptionally perceptive. Her character is one audiences can identify with amid the madness all around. Her rendition of “Emilie’s Song” is tender and moving.

Her prospective employers are sisters, like the Brontës. The older one, Agatha (Arika Thames), is high-handed and fond of domination. The younger one, Huldey (Natalie Cutcher), is something of a romantic and appears slightly insane. The physicality of their characters is always surprising, sometimes entertaining, sometimes terrifying. The Brontës’ obsession with creativity is evoked by Huldey’s diary and her dream of being a famous writer. (...)

The moors, pictured behind the main setting, are also a major character. In a letter, Charlotte Brontë notes that a local newspaper described her home thus: “situated amongst the bogs and Mountains and until very lately supposed to be in a state of semi-barbarism.” Charlotte herself states, in another letter, that “we live a long way from towns and people hardly wish to take the trouble of crossing the mountains which form a barrier round us.” They too both hide and reveal. Emily, Charlotte said, was at her happiest there. (Sophia Howes)

It seems that the creators of a new production of Wuthering Heights in Sevastopol are using music by Philip Glass without his consent. Shocking, piracy in occupied Crimea, who could imagine that. You can read in Limelight, Stereogum, The Daily Beast or Slippedisc:

The composer has sent this missive to the Sevastopol Opera and Ballet Theatre:

It has come to my attention that a ballet entitled Wuthering Heights featuring my music and using my name in its advertising and promotion is to premiere in public performance at your theater in Sevastopol next week.

No permission for the use of my music in the ballet or the use of my name in the advertising and promotion of the ballet was ever requested of me or given by me. The use of my music and the use of my name without my consent is in violation of The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works to which the Russian Federation is a signatory. It is an act of piracy.

I am well aware that the current circumstances in occupied Crimea leave me powerless to assert my right under international law to prohibit this act of piracy. But I shall make my vehement objection to it known should you proceed.

Be guided accordingly,

Zee News lists books about love you should read:

Wuthering Heights

The book is a dark and passionate tale of the intense love and revenge between Heathcliff and Cahterine Earnshaw and is written by Emily Brontë.

Jane Eyre

Written about an orphan named Jane Eyre who falls in love with the enigmatic Mr. Rochester, the novel is a gothic romance penned by Charlotte Brontë.

The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever stuff:  The Isle of Thanet News, AFP...