Underdog: The Other Other Bronte is a new take on the success of the literary sisters, focusing on themes of sibling rivalry with addict brother Bramwell a drain on resources no mention of the other, other, other Brontes who didn’t make it past early childhood and the trauma of their passing that Charlotte relives so tragically through Helen Burns in Jane Eyre.
Relishing her role, Gemma Whelan’s head and elbow-strong Charlotte is in stark contrast to the imagined, brooding writer, annually laid low by seasonal affective disorder and vicariously living in introversion. This Charlotte has wit and humour and a sharp tongue – and we love her.
The other, other Bronte is Anne (Rhiannon Clements) and Emily (Adele James), who although she appears less, is the still, centred other. Like the model of trimurti or trinity, in this sibling triptych Anne is the creator to Charlotte’s destroyer and Emily’s grounding preservation.
The Other Other Bronte is set against a backdrop of Victorian values, limitations on rights and opportunities for women. In an ironic twist, the men in this cast, playing multiple characters, reflect light back to the sisters, the suns on this stage.
Sometimes the historical context is flimsy and no mention of William Thackeray in the list of contemporary successful male writers, who at first welcomed then rejected Charlotte for her portrayal of the woman in the attic, just a bit too close to his own story – still, it makes a change for men to be written out of the story.
Written by Sarah Gordon and directed by Natalie Ibu, Underdog is an imagined retelling. It will make you laugh and it might make you wonder just who those women really were.
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