The Old Schoolroom Haworth
A Gothic play of the torment, tragedy and treachery of the Bronte Siblings, and the rise of sweet, shy, sickly Anne to become a determined force, not only in her own family, but in the world at large, when she scrapes back the veneer of Victorian respectability to uncover the shame of wife abuse. Though pilloried by critics and the top echelons of society Anne fearlessly strikes back in the preface to the second edition of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and though Charlotte fears to publish it, Anne knows she can never be silenced for her work is published, thanks to Charlotte’s desire for fame. Straight from its successful premiere in Sydney and written by Leeds born playwright Cate Whittaker.
You can purchase tickets for the performances at Otley Courthouse (2nd and 4th of October) here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/otleycourthouse/the-lost-voice-of-anne-bronte/e-pzlvzo
Tickets will be available for the performance at The Old School Room in Haworth on the door, cash only.
Elizabeth Lowrencev's period-costume production […] shows that Whittaker has […] a solidly engaging play.’
- John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald
“(..) It's Emily who draws us into the story, aided by Rose Treloar's superior acting performance.
[…]
Whittaker makes her credibly the author of Wuthering Heights: her own life is a gothic romance, and she lives with an intensity and vivacity that shades her sisters.
- John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald
"Anne (Bedelia Lowrencev) begins as a teenaged innocent who develops into the boldest writer of the three, leading readers into the then-heresy of a woman daring to walk out of the "slavery" of a hideously dysfunctional marriage in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. […] Lowrencev became more convincing as Anne developed a voice as an artist and feminist.”
Cathy Friend nailed some of the earthy perspicacity of Tabitha, the girls' heart-of-gold nurse and a chorus-like observer…”
- John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald