DEAR CHARLOTTE
nytheatre.com review by Kate Ward
August 15, 2003
The most striking element of Dear
Charlotte, the Powerhouse Theatre Company’s biographical account of
Charlotte Bront� and her family, is the parallel between the literature
of the Bront� sisters and the drama of their own comings of age. Life
was harsh in early nineteenth century England. As playwright Joy Gregory
captivatingly illustrates, these girls were not to the writing life
born. By adolescence, Charlotte, Emily and Anne had lost their mother
and two sisters. They endured the severe schoolhouse cruelty and
discouraged ambition imposed on them by the social order of the day. I
couldn’t help but assume that Jane Eyre was the autobiography
Charlotte Bront� wanted to avoid as I watched her marshal the inner
fortitude necessary to reject the governess’s life awaiting her. Gregory
covers a lot of ground in Dear Charlotte, providing rich context
for the Bront� stories and weaving a compelling narrative in her own
right. Although the play is set in the 1830s, the production exhibits none of the trappings one might associate with a period piece. The set consists of two wooden benches and a beautiful pen and ink backdrop of the English countryside. Molly Dewane’s costumes are simple, versatile dresses suggestive of the time period. The actors provide much of the atmosphere; the ensemble work here is very strong. The entire cast remains onstage throughout the production, changing costume and character in full view of the audience. Scene and mood changes are signaled by representational choreography, to sometimes incongruous, sometimes astonishing effect. One powerful image is that of two boarding school beds, empty after the deaths of Maria and Elizabeth Bront�, being hoisted onto the pall bearing shoulders of the cast. Suddenly we are at a funeral.
Kim Weild gives a winning performance as Charlotte. We watch her grow from an earnest, awkward girl with flashes of devilish humor to a woman of piercing intelligence and touching vulnerability. Brian Stanton’s Branwell is tragic as the enthusiastic young brother beaten by his own inability to cope. Amber Skalski’s Emily is wonderfully spirited. The other actors move from character to character with swift versatility. In particular, David LM Mcintyre is hardly recognizable as he transforms from the girls’ stoic father Patrick into Charlotte’s nervous suitor. Anthony Byrnes’s direction brings together the many different elements into an engaging theatrical experience.
