The play’s premise sounds like a gimmick, and it is: Three real-life Victorian sisters who became renowned for their novels — Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë (authors of, respectively, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall) — have been consigned by a witch to purgatory, where they are required to throw nightly parties until they attain “The Point of Celebratory Reverence” (a never-specified transcendent state of being). The sisters have thus dutifully partied on — more than 5,000 times — so far without success. We, the audience, are their guests as they try once again. Will they or won’t they reach that vague “Celebratory Reverence”? That’s essentially the suspense that sustains all the storytelling that follows. (...)This is not a play with a story arc that unfolds with revelation after revelation, nor does it attain the euphoric buzz of a good bash. In fact, the script functions more like a loopy lineup for an off-the-wall variety show, with an assortment of monologues, scenelets, and set pieces (some hits, some misses).A question one might have going in is whether Brontë Sister House Party will make any sense if one knows nothing of the historical characters’ backstories or literary output. Be assured, the playwright doesn’t assume we all will fill that in; there’s plenty of contextualizing exposition (though Brontë buffs will likely recognize easter eggs along the way). (...)Brontë Sister House Party culminates in feel-good sisterhood closure, but the play’s episodic structure feels random and aimless until then (though director Kathleen Barth manages the many tonal shifts with admirable aplomb). Moreover, on opening night, execution was uneven, with the sort of uncertainty more excusable in a preview.Still, the admittedly gimmicky premise is intriguing; the characters, both as written and as performed, are appealingly quirky; and the musical interludes are fun. A satisfying Brontë-esque saga it’s not, but its sentiments, silliness, and celebratory aspirations have modern merit. (John Stoltenberg )
Southwark Playhouse has released another clip of their upcoming Jane Eyre. The Musical production: Charlie Burn performing Sweet Liberty (via Broadway World).
#8: Much spicier than the classic novel it’s based on, what ’26 movie has been dubbed “50 Shades of Brontë”?A: “Anna Karenina”B: “Wuthering Heights”C: “Middlemarch”D: “Mansfield Park”
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