Review: Bronte at The Watermill Theatre

Bronte, produced in association with the acclaimed physical theatre company Shared Experience, is currently running at The Watermill Theatre near Newbury.

We are introduced in the first half of the play to the four living Bronte children, Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell, as they are brought up by their Irish parson father, Patrick, in Yorkshire. The joy the girls find in writing is stifled as their attempts are dismissed, by Poet Laureate Robert Southey amongst others,

“...literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life.”

The action throughout play is interspersed with the trademark physical theatre of Shared Experience. Periods of the Brontes’ childhood are often represented largely with movement, as are scenes from the sisters’ most famous works: Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Anyone with no experience of the novels could be left a touch confused at certain points. However my partner was a “Bronte Virgin” and this didn’t spoil his enjoyment too much. Knowledge of the novels would certainly add to anyone’s appreciation of this play, but it is far from essential

Bronte really picks up in the second half, which our whole party enjoyed more than the first. It is fascinating to see how directly the girls’ own turbulent lives seeped in to the emotions of the characters they created. The play even suggests that certain lines, in Wuthering Heights for example, came directly from the mouths of those around them- their brother Branwell in this instance.

After a slightly slow start Bronte turned out to be a touching, imaginative, atmospheric and informative look at the lives of the legendary British writers. The cast were all impressive, but David Fielder’s excellent versatility stood out as he switched between the roles of Patrick Bronte, Rochester, Bell Nicholls and Heger.

Bronte runs at The Watermill Theatre until Saturday May 22nd.