BRONTE

Bronte by Polly Teale is described as a ‘literary re-imagining’, and I guess there starts my confusion as to what exactly I was watching. The drama tells a story of the three Bronte sisters and, whether it was actually fact or fiction, it was certainly difficult to follow at times. Whilst I left the theatre feeling somewhat disappointed at the play itself, I did depart having seen some splendid individual performances.

The play was set in the rather bland kitchen of the Bronte household in West Yorkshire, starting in 1845. Fred Rayment’s lighting was dark, moody, and added well to the atmosphere. I particularly liked the use of the single candle at the end of Act 1.

My confusion, however, began at the very start. Entering the theatre, the three main actors were already on stage in costume and, as the lights went down, began a discussion about the Bronte sisters, holding paperbacks and illustrated picture books - so we were not in 1845, however, moments later, we were. I think the change could have been made clearer with some costume alterations.

Director Christine Rayment certainly picked a challenging piece to work with, with multiple stories ongoing throughout, moving between minutes and other times years in scenes - which is exceedingly difficult to portray without set and costume changes – and then sometimes going back in time as well, with actors playing more than one role - including accents and differentiating their characters - it was, at times, difficult to comprehend. Christine’s love for the Bronte sisters, though, did help to get some wonderful individual performances from her actors.

All three sisters gave assured, confident, and passionate performances, each of them portraying their own relationships with one another very well. Mariam Gaballa Gill as Charlotte, gave a strong, resolute performance of a character trying to lead and keep the family on track. Elise Crosby as Emily was the independent, at times, almost moody teenager and gave a lovely, sometimes argumentative and at other times sympathetic, performance, showing a real depth of character. Harriet Waller as Anne may have been the ‘forgotten’ sister, but gave a wonderful performance, often acting as the family go-between and peacemaker.

Barry Pain took on the role of the father – Patrick - plus three smaller roles. I needed more dominance over his Bronte offspring, and more diversity between his main and smaller roles.

Dan Collins played the girls brother – Branwell - another fine performance, effortlessly transposing himself from a pretend swashbuckling sea captain to a real life alcoholic and finally to insanity, adapting his demeanour at each stage to suit his fall from grace. Dan also took on other roles and certainly looked the part for Heathcliff, managing a quick change very successfully.

Emma Van Nieuwenburgh played the dual roles of Cathy and Bertha, ethereal characters who appeared and left, at times without purpose, and whose movements on stage felt quite awkward. A little more volume and clarity needed as we lost some of her dialogue.

Overall, I struggled to feel engaged with what I was watching - which then stopped me from feeling involved with the characters, so when their demise eventually came, it was more of a relief – and for that I hold no responsibility on the actors or the director, who deserve nothing but praise for undertaking a very difficult piece of work.

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