Polly Teale’s Bronte is based loosely on the lives of the famous Bronte sisters: Charlotte, Emily and Anne. Set in the small Yorkshire village of Hawarth in the 19th century, where the girls’ imaginations grow to become literary giants of their time, despite their secluded life with their father (the village pastor) and their over privileged brother, Branwell. The story tells their life of poverty as they struggle to become writers in a world dominated by male literary scholars and one where they have never been allowed to travel outside of their small village to explore the world.
Teale’s depiction of the three sisters is cleverly told by cross-cutting between the real world of the sisters' lives and that of their famed characters. We see how the real life events helped to create the characters such as Charlotte’s time working as a nanny, being instrumental in her creation of the character of Jane Eyre. That said, there is a sense of the story jumping around in time and fiction a little too much as there are moments in the production which are difficult to place in the chronology of the story and can become rather confusing for the audience. I have to confess to that I am a novice to a Bronte novel, although I have seen Jane Eyre on stage, so this production was always going to teach me something. However, this wasn’t the reason for my confusion: the dialogue often refers to events which happen two scenes later and there was very little change in costume, setting or lights to give the audience some sense that time had lapsed or moved backwards. This must not be seen as a critique of the direction but the playwright as the actual script itself dictates so many changes in time and without written stage direction of changes in lighting states nor costume. I would have been interested to see how Teale herself directed it for Shared Experience Theatre Company when she first published the play in 2005. I think director, Barry Purves did a sterling job on this production and mustn’t be blamed for a sometimes cumbersome and confusing script.
With a cast of only six, the performers had a really tough job as the dialogue was full of monologues and scenes dominated by the three quarrelsome sisters: Emily played by Amy-Lou Harris, Charlotte played by Parissa Zamanpour and Anne, by Portia Dodds. These three actresses proved their stage presence with commendable portrayals of the threesome. Zamanpour’s depiction of the passionate Charlotte was powerful and showed a bitter resentment toward the male dominated world she desperately wanted to break into. This was particularly apparent toward her brother Branwell, who was given all of the family’s wealth to make it big in London but squandered it on a frivolous lifestyle of alcohol and fancy goods. Branwell, played by Anthony Morris played a very good ‘drunk’ and his physicality of the role had the audience entertained and at other times gasping in horror that he may land on the laps of the front row audience! Although the middle sister Emily had a clear talent for writing, her gentle personality prevented her from wanting the fame of being known as a writer. In this role, Amy-Lou Harris had a sense of pathos for the character which was very easy to empathise with as the gentler, soft spoken sister. The youngest and lesser known of the Bronte sisters, Anne was depicted by Portia Dodds with a youthful innocence and charm, often lifting the lengthy script’s pace with her energy. All three performers had a wonderful rapport with one another and had the audience captivated throughout.
Undoubtedly the most successful part of this production was the design. Everything was beautiful to watch. Even the stage laid bare before the house lights went down was full of the mystery of the West Yorkshire Moors, with a projected sky on the backcloth and an imposing tree stump on a raised level, centre stage. The atmosphere was ready to beckon Cathy and Heathcliffe at any moment as it looked and felt like a scene Wuthering Heights. The set design reference to books strewn across the stage created a contemporary air to the production and the opening scene of pages raining down on the actresses as they dressed themselves as the three sisters was absolutely stunning. The entire design team (of whom the list is understandably long), must be commended on all aspects of the design as this was what gave this production its professional quality.
I must confess that I love the Altrincham Garrick Theatre and the quality of their productions never lets me down. From the brilliant direction and design team to the wonderful performers, this production did not disappoint and was the professional standard I have come to expect from recent shows. Bronte runs until Saturday 16th March
Reviewer - Johanna Hassouna-Smith
on - 11/3/19
No comments:
Post a Comment