Underdog: The Other Other Bronte

I did a fair bit of pondering over who is really the underdog in this new play by Sarah Gordon.  We meet all three Brontë sisters but Charlotte (an excellent, feisty Gemma Whelan) is the one who acts as our guide through this story, and it’s her point of view we hear although she's a pretty unreliable narrator.  The play is funny and rolls along, more than a little bit meta, and with plenty of reaching across the fourth wall.  We get to meet the sisters when they are trying to work out how to make ends meet and eventually develop their plan to use male pseudonyms to get their work published.  I liked the scratchy way their sibling relationships and rivalries were laid out, with Charlotte as the bossy and overbearing older sister with narcissist tendencies, and Anne (Rhiannon Clements) constantly being undermined but fighting back.   The play references their work, but actually it is only interested really in their relationship, so it was a shame really that we didn't get to know much about Emily (Adele James) at all.  

Great performances from all, and I enjoyed the ensemble too, particularly Nick Blakely as Mrs Ingram and Mrs Gaskell played as pantomime dames to give an extra edge to the commentary about gender roles.  And it was a clever set design too; I  loved the moors which lifted away to reveal seething blackness beneath and the revolving bit of the stage which did a lot of work in some of the comic moments - the looonnnggg journey to London stands out in particular!   The costume design was interesting too.  Although the publicity has all the sisters in red, I was intrigued with the reality of just Charlotte in red (with the ensemble), whilst the other sisters are in standard period dress, maybe showing us who is really in charge of this narrative.

The first half of the play bowls along at speed, and with lots of anacronistic language and humour and I enjoyed it a lot, although I felt it lost its way a bit in the final 10 -15 minutes, trying to bring out the overarching themes in a way that became a bit too wordy and complicated.  I got the symbolism of the museum exhibit box but it took me a bit of reflection afterwards to think through the bit just at blackout (it reminded me a bit of the Barbie movie and for similar reasons).  Once I got it though, I liked it. 

Charlotte doesn't really come out very well at all, although I think we understand why she is like she is.  But I felt a bit sorry for Branwell in this version of the truth, and also for Emily who despite being on stage is pretty much ignored - we don't really hear anything at all about her work, all the attention being focused by Charlotte on undermining Anne's work.   The play opens with Charlotte commenting on how younger women criticise older women, and the theme of trying to succeed in a misogynistic world, when even the sisters who should be pulling you up are knocking you down is the main thing being explored here.  Yes the men are awful, but Charlotte is awful too. There's a hint of the toxic nature of gender expectations in the treatment of Branwell too, who rather than just being a toxic wastrel also has a hint of a troubled young man struggling to live up to expectations. 

And as for the Underdog of the title, well I was expecting that to be Anne, and she does end up there, mainly due to Charlotte's efforts.  But actually this play is mainly about Charlotte and her restless desire to be top dog and be noticed and remembered, even if she has to push her sisters down to achieve it.  

A fun evening taking a 21st century look at Victorian ambition, envy, inequality and misogyny with a likeable anti-hero.