Brontë at Tricycle Theatre

Brontë at Tricycle Theatre

07 April, 2011
by: Naima Khan

An interesting imagining of how and why the Brontë sisters came to write the way they did.

You don't expect a play about three spinsters living in the grey Victorian countryside to be particularly uplifting, but you'll be surprised at the emotional impact of Brontë at Tricycle Theatre.

With so much of the intimate history of the Brontë sisters unknown, writer Polly Teale openly embraces the alleged facts, the fictions, and the contradictions. Though this is obviously a well-researched piece, it is essentially an affective imagining of how and why the Brontë sisters came to write the way they did.

Exploring their inner thoughts and the era they lived in, the play begins with the effects of the death of Charlotte, Anne and Emily's mother Maria. Though Maria is long dead when we meet the Brontës, it's her absence that has shaped the household and convinced the sisters that they'll never get married. Teale presents their spinsterhood in the Victorian era as essential, not only to what they wrote but to their freedom to read, learn and express their ideas. If, like me, you haven't studied literature in ages, this is a refreshing way of moving past their work to get a better look at these literary greats.

Each sister is artfully realised as an individual but also as a part of this essential, unbreakable trio. Charlotte's preoccupation with being plain and ineligible combined with her conservative views smothers her burgeoning sexuality. Played frighteningly well by Kristin Atherton, Charlotte is haunted by a licentious, lunatic exaggeration of Mrs Rochester who battles silently with her own Jane Eyre-like persona. Yes, you need to be familiar with the literature to get the most from this play but if you're willing to let the abstract apparitions slide, you can enjoy Brontë as a family drama; it'll just be that much drearier.

It centres on the return of Branwell Brontë who comes home a troubled alcoholic. Teale sweetly presents the playful childhood of the brother and sisters and contrasts it with their bleak adulthood, but the plot isn't that memorable. There's no gripping storyline here; it's just one sad event after another. Instead, you get a portrait of a family, and the moving experience of seeing them cope in crises. Hearing each sister talk of her own ideas, priorities and love for her brother is where the real brilliance of this play lies. That, and the amazing set.

Through one giant optical illusion, designer Ruth Sutcliffe and her team present the bare stone walls of the Brontë's home, turn them into a rich forest when Emily imagines Cathy, and an ominous cliff surface when Anne seeks the fresh sea air. The background changes seamlessly transporting the characters and the audience; something that sums up nicely why you should go. Don't go for the story but go for the characters and expect to be transported to their world for a couple of hours.

Brontë runs at Tricycle Theatre until 30th April and at Richmond Theatre from 10th to 14th May.

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Naima Khan