Alex's Historical Fiction

Bronte

Last night we went to see Bronte by Polly Teale, performed by the Shared Experience company. Well, it was about the Brontes (sisters, brother and father) and it wasn't a barrel of laffs, as might be expected. But it was well done. With so much incident, the playwright had to choose her path carefully. The narrative was dispersed, with flashbacks to their childhood (played by the actors, who then switched back to their adult selves), so that it could have been complicated. However, for most of the time, I understood where we were supposed to be. There was a woman in white (Cathy from Wuthering Heights) and the same actress also changed into a red dress which represented Mrs Rochester and Charlotte's passionate side. So there was a good deal of commentary on what the books meant, and where they came from.

The dp reckoned Charlotte got a bad rap, as it showed her burning Emily's second novel, and generally she was generally rather prissy. Emily came out as the free spirit, although I note she wasn't shown trying to stop Branwell from drowning his sorrows, which wasn't helpful.

Anyway, I gather that Teale's adaptation of Jane Eyre will be on tour next year, and I hope it comes our way. She's also written a play called After Mrs Rochester, so Bronte is the last in the trilogy. Polly Teale can be heard here, talking about Bronte, and there's an article by her about her three plays here.

posted by Alex Bordessa @ Friday, October 14, 2005