Underdog the Other Other Bronte

When I attended Chorley Theatre to see Sarah Gordon's “Underdog the Other Other Bronte,” I expected a traditional story about the Brontë sisters, namely Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, the three surviving daughters of a rural parson, named Patrick Bronte and   were brought up in Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Instead, the play offered a modern, irreverent retelling of the life and legend of the Bronte sisters with the help of Doc Martens, rock music, and bold language. It focused on the power of words, and the reality of sisterhood, love, and support as well as jealousy and underhand manoeuvrings, it looked at the sibling power dynamics that shaped the decisions they made in their rise to fame, all while blending humour and moving moments. Everything worked very well, in this modern twist with contemporary elements; in fact, it helped to highlight the sisters' life struggles, making them more relatable and enhancing the overall experience. All three sisters had hugely different characters, Charlotte in a bright red dress was the dominant one while Emily dressed in green knew her mind, was caring and stood up to Charlotte, Anne on the other hand wore a dress with purple trimmings and was gentle sensitive and dominated by Charlotte. In the script Charlotte talked about how one sister became an idol, and the other became known as the third sister. “You know the one. No, not that one. The other, other one… Anne”. The play was first performed as a co-production between the Dorfman Theatre, National Theatre, London and Northern Stage Newcastle-upon-Tyne and was written by Sarah Gordan. It premiered at the Dorfman in April 2024, then opened at the Northern Stage on 7th of June 2024

 Although the narrative of the play features the lives and the relationships between all three sisters, it highlights the relationship between Charlotte and Anne Brontë, the eldest and youngest sisters who had opposite personalities. However, the play and its narrative does contain unproven facts and situations and does not claim to be biographical, meaning for example that someone who is unfamiliar with the Brontë’s work may assume from this play that ‘Jane Eyre’ was derived from Anne’s first novel ‘Agnes Grey’, which drew on Anne’s experience as a governess, a fact of which there is no proof, however, ‘Jane Eyre’ remains an outstanding piece of writing and is considered one of the nation’s classic literary works. Charlotte authored several novels but is remembered mostly for Jane Eyre, while Anne is less well known, which is thought partly because, there was a delay in publishing her first novel Agnes Grey until after Jane Eyre, although it was accepted first for publishing and “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” was first attributed to Charlotte due to a mix up at the publishers. Charlotte also blocked further publication of this novel after Anne’s death at age 29, although it was very popular and considered rather shocking at the time because of its subject matter. In the play Charlotte does express regret about how she overshadowed Anne’s legacy; however, the way she criticised her sisters and her actions may suggest the alternative.

The play directed by Amber Walsh and produced by Robert Walsh, skilfully brought together an excellent group of actors and produced an exceptionally good production. The cast included Katie Potter who delivered an outstanding performance as Charlotte the eldest daughter and author of the classic novel Jane Eyre, Katie portrayed both Charlotte’s boldness and underlying insecurities brilliantly as well as displaying exceptionally good comic timing. She was able to highlight very well the strong feelings Charlotte had as she reflects on the challenges for ambitious Victorian women during this era, of having to live in a male dominated society, which does appear to have some influence on how she treats her siblings. Due to this situation the sisters decided to first publish under the male pseudonyms of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Rebecca Moran skilfully portrayed Anne as a caring foil to Charlotte and showed that although Anne was the quiet caring one, underneath she had determination and belief in her own talent and thoughts as a writer, while both Katie and Rebecca delivered an authentic dynamic between the two characters. Rachel Kemp was spot on as Emily Brontë author of “Wuthering Heights,” the middle sister, and the group peacemaker, often mediating between Charlotte and Anne. It was crucial in this production that the relationships between the three sisters appeared authentic, and happily the three lead actors excelled in this regard. The play also featured four cast members who played a mixture of several smaller roles each they were Gemma Nightingale, Jo-Anne Donnelly, Matt Christmas, and Orna Horton-Murphy who each delivered exceptional performances while producing and performing several different characters. Although referred to collectively as the ensemble, they played a significant role in the success of the show, in particular, Matt Christmas’s portrayal of Branwell Brontë was especially noteworthy.

The set was minimalist and featured props that helped distinguish the setting of the scene, with technical aspects such as sound, and lighting, by Paul Carr and an excellent music playlist put together by Amber Walsh. Costumes were important for highlighting each sister's character through colour and were supplied and sourced by Karen Thompson-Butler and Jean Wild, with support from Carole Brooks. Rebecca Irish not only organized the props but also served as stage manager, assisted by Stephen Irish. There were smooth transitions between scenes which enabled the play to move at a good pace. Orna Horton-Murphy provided choreography, while Ian Robinson handled marketing.

This production was both entertaining and moving, blending comedy with emotional depth. One of the comedic highlights of the play featured a scene where Anne arrives at a house to start her new job as governess and is taken on a tour by the lady of the house, who had a humorous walk which evoked Monty Python’s style causing great hilarity and had the audience laughing out loud. While the relationship between the sisters may not have been entirely true to life, it added interest to the play. The cast and crew did an excellent job, and I especially appreciated the whole performance despite my surprise at Charlotte Brontë's swearing. It is also good to know that both the novels “Wuthering Heights” written by Emily and “Agnes Grey” written by Anne are now considered masterpieces and the “Tenant of Wildfell Hall” also written by Anne is considered insightful and courageously written for its time and a masterpiece. Well-done everybody involved in bringing this production to the stage

 

 

 

 

 

 

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