Brontë
The Watermill
Until May 22

THIS fascinating play about the life and trials of the Brontë sisters is as much an historical snapshot as it is a compelling dramatic story.

Polly Teale’s play explores the relationships between Charlotte, Emily and Anne, as well as their father and brother Branwell, and how they came to write such compelling novels despite their isolation and gender.

Filled with premature death, poverty and hardships – and echoes of the social unrest and squalor of the time – Brontë is not a cheerful night out. However, it is still compelling.

The play explores issues like women’s limited opportunities, the merits and frustrations of education for people in their position and the impact of isolation and inexperience on their work.

This interpretation juxtaposes Emily – a fiercely private author who writes for herself – and Charlotte, who desperately seeks recognition and adulation, and their rocky relationship is at the heart of this play, which posits a theory that Charlotte even burned Emily’s second manuscript.

The characters of Mrs Rochester, Cathy and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights are woven into the narrative to great effect and Frances McNamee’s portrayal of the two fictional women is mesmerising.

The cast of six is very strong. Elizabeth Crarer, as Emily, has a tremendous talent and stage presence and Mark Edel-Hunt, as Branwell and Heathcliff, demonstrates great versatility and injects a few brief moments of humour.

Kristin Atherton, playing Charlotte, has the most challenging role. She is almost always on stage and must win the audience’s sympathy despite being a straight-laced Jane Eyre next to Emily’s passionate Cathy. She does well, but occasionally comes across a little forced.

Visually this production is stunning. From three black walls, lighting designer Tim Lutkin creates the Brontë's bare kitchen, Mrs Rochester’s attic prison and a range of other spaces and moods.

One reservation is that for quite a long play – two halves of 75 minutes – it is quite heavy.

The Brontë's lives were no bed of roses but there is little to lighten the mood.

But this is a high quality, thought-provoking evening of theatre and a must for anyone who has ever been enraptured by a Brontë novel.