With... Lizzy Newman
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Sam and Sassy chat to Visitor Experience Assistant Lizzy Newman. We'll
discuss death, doc martens, and what it was like living in Haworth in the
Victori...
5 days ago
BBT artistic director and co-founder Lora Adams proves again there’s just about nothing she can’t put on at this priceless, 60-seat gem of a theater in downtown Moline. She again wears multiple hats in directing this mighty big show (39 musical numbers, 14 actors, boundless expanse of the human heart), as well as designing another tasteful, spot-on-set and elegant costumes. [...]This is the largest production Adams has ever brought to the Black Box stage, and you’d have to have a soul of ice not to be drawn into the bewitching story – commandingly led by the intoxicating trio of leads Martin, Urbaitis and the powerhouse soprano Shelley Cooper as Blanche Ingram, a rival for Rochester’s affections.I was most moved by Martin – who reveals an uncanny, preternatural calm and poise as the poignant, sensitive heroine. While both sopranos, she and Cooper offer a fascinating, delightful contrast in their equally stunning, heart-pounding portrayals.Martin (like Jane) possesses a more humble, even, less showy and entirely captivating singing voice and personality – still glorious in its radiant beauty. She and Cooper share a wonderful duet in the second act, “In the Light of the Virgin Morning” that complement each other and fit together like perfect puzzle pieces.Martin also has what every actor should aspire to – affecting and absorbing reacting, in being able to communicate greatly by facial expressions alone. She does that first in watching and telling of her young self (played by Em Foster) at the beginning, and most touchingly, in her second act acceptance of Rochester’s marriage proposal. Martin’s look of bliss and yearning are transcendent.Urbaitis is just as sentimental and touching in his daunting mountain of a part, which he scales triumphantly. He and Martin have a voluminous amount of stage time and they both are strong, mesmerizing presences – “My Hope of Heaven,” “Sail Away” and the inspiring closer, “Brave Enough for Love,” are among their duet highlights.“Sweet Liberty,” “Secret Soul” and “Painting Her Portrait” are among Martin’s best numbers and she imbues Jane’s dream to be free and happy with admirable intensity and fervor.Other standouts in the consistently solid cast include Karen LeFebvre (Mrs. Fairfax, who has two of the most vocally tricky songs – “Perfectly Nice” and “Slip of a Girl”), Stephanie Perry (Mrs. Reed/Lady Ingram), Eden Myers (Helen Burns/Adele), Daniel Williams (St. John Rivers), and Tyler Henning (Mason).The entire ensemble often shines off stage in their choruses, displaying great harmonies, such as the Act 2 opener, “Sympathies Exist.” (Full disclosure: I had the pleasure to be a substitute accompanist for a few rehearsals.)Special kudos to the enthusiastic music director Amy Trimble, who’s loved this show since it first came out, with her small but capable pit (joining Deb Swift on keyboard and flutist Karen McClintock).This bountiful entertainment has what we all could use a bit more of — elegance, taste, style and enviable moral example. (Jonathan Turner)
The Black Box Theatre is giving you the incredibly good fortune to see an absolutely beautiful musical adaptation of one of, if not THE, best known and most beloved romance novels, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and I do not have enough superlatives to describe how stunning it is. It is yet another feather in the cap both of BBT founder and director Lora Adams as well as Music Director, Amy Trimble. [...]This is going to sound kind of sappy, but one of my favorite film roles is Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Wilkes in Gone with the Wind. Let’s face it, NOBODY is that sweet, loving and forgiving, but de Havilland completely and utterly sells it, sucking us into a sugar induced coma of utter belief. For me, that is the highest compliment I can assign to Kiera Lynn’s portrayal of Jane Eyre. Her performance is tender, endearing and oh so genuine, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that she has the singing pipes to back up her acting skills.Counter-balancing Lynn’s Jane Eyre is Joe Urbaitis as the troubled master of the manor house, Edward Fairfax Rochester. It’s been decades since I read the novel, but my recollection of Rochester is that of a tortured and taciturn curmudgeon. Here the character is interpreted as a kinder, gentler Rochester which makes him easier to like as he and Jane follow the winding and pot-holed path to eventual happiness.Adams has expertly accommodated this rather large-for-the-venue cast of 14 by concealing the cast in ensemble numbers behind screens which gives them a retrospective haunting quality. And speaking of numbers, this 38 chapter novel is adapted to a whopping 39 songs to tell this classic tale resulting in a close to 2 ½ hour production. But don’t worry, you’ll savor every minute.This uber-talented cast also includes Shelley Cooper in the dual roles of Miss Scatchard and Blanche Ingram and Karen Lefebvre, who I especially liked, not only for the quality of her singing but also for the way her songs were cleverly written in a recurring syncopated style.There were a couple of technical glitches at the performance I attended but they are so minor that most people may not have noticed them and certainly didn’t diminish this excellent production. And circling back to music support, Trimble has reduced instrumentation to only two keyboards and a flute. Believe me, you won’t miss a full orchestra. (Chris Hicks)
In Moline, director Lora Adams (also the theatre's co-owner and artistic director) and music director Amy Trimble, along with their staff, crew, musicians, and 14-member cast, fit the technically challenging script and score beautifully into this intimate venue.The descriptor "Gothic romance" brings visions of gloomy mansions with foreboding airs. But that's not simply an overused literary device – large, drafty dwellings without electricity or plumbing actually existed in the mid-1800s. And in real-life English boarding schools, children endured horrific conditions and indiscriminate cruelty. (Charlotte and her siblings lived at one until their father wisely brought them home.) In this production, Em Foster plays young Jane, banished to such a purportedly educational hellscape, who is understandably bitter and defiant. Foster, a college student, offers a natural and believable portrayal of a preteen, as does high-schooler Eden Myers as Jane's calmer, wiser friend Helen. Both have lovely voices to match their acting prowess.In "Graveside," Foster's young Jane and the grown Jane portrayed by Kiera Lynn sing alternate lines, then the same words and melody in unison, then diverge, singing in harmony – a nice transition of actors out of and into the role, and of Jane from girl to woman. Lynn has a marvelously sweet yet straightforward singing voice here. I last saw her a few months ago as Ralphie's snarky teacher Miss Shields at the Circa '21's Dinner Playhouse's A Christmas Story: The Musical. Naturally, Lynn's Jane is quite a different creation. Gratifyingly, in the Black Box venue, I was close enough to see the changes in Lynn's face throughout the story: sorrow becoming determination; hope becoming heartbreak.When Jane leaves boarding school to become a governess, she's welcomed to Thornfield Hall by housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax, played by the golden-voiced Karen LeFebvre. In LeFebvre's first of several numbers, "Perfectly Nice," she provides backstory, and plays the character's scripted slight confusion and hearing loss as gently amusing without making her a buffoon. Jane's charge Adele is played by Myers – distinct from her previous role as Helen, and now in a dark, corkscrewed wig and frilly dress. (Here, I must laud Adams, who has created yet another range of gorgeous costumes and a versatile set. Don't know how she keeps doing it, but I hope she never stops.)Joe Urbaitis is a wonder as master of the mansion Mr. Rochester, a slightly gruff but appealing fellow with a melancholy soul and a mysterious past. Urbaitis, a veteran of many QC musicals, always impresses with his characterizations. For example, in a small yet critical detail, he nails this English dialect. (I expected no less.) In his Mr. Rochester, I saw hints of Urbaitis' charming Emile in Countryside Community Theatre's South Pacific, a character that had a similar character arc. Shelley Cooper plays Rochester's admirer Blanche, who hilariously blows the roof off the mansion with her operatic grandstanding. Half the Jane Eyre cast take on two roles apiece, and the ensemble as a whole are superb: Abby Berg, Daniel Williams, Douglas Kutzli, Heather Lueder, Jakob Berg, Kirsten V. Myers Sr., Stephanie Quade-Perry, and Tyler Henning. Meanwhile, this musical's "pit" – more accurately a pocket at stage right – holds two keyboardists and a flutist. The simple orchestration with unamplified voices is excellent, effective, and does not sound spare in the slightest.There are so many well-executed aspects of this production, big and small: the perfect little laden tea table; the lower-class London accent of Heather Lueder's Grace; the artworks visible during "Painting Her Portrait”; the warmly flickering fireplace; the birdsong punctuating "In the Light of the Virgin Morning”; Abby Berg's frightening spectre with an angelic voice; the transformation of a parlor into a garden with a flip of blossoming vines over a wall; everything about Urbaitis' "As Good as You." With an astonishing 39 musical numbers and many shifts in scene, Adams' troupe makes this complex, ambitious undertaking run smoothly. There were a few technical glitches when I attended, but I trust they've been subsequently worked out.When I saw Jane Eyre's opening-night performance, I didn't know what shape or tone this production might possess. Beyond that, I was decidedly under the weather on Friday, and on glancing at the program's long song list, I wondered how on Earth I was going to last through the show. However, I found myself absorbed, time flew, and at the end, I was sweetly uplifted with no saccharine aftertaste. I also felt inspired to endure and persevere – and believed that what doesn't kill us really does make us stronger. (Pamela Briggs)
6 'Wuthering Heights' (2011)Director: Andrea ArnoldBased on Emily Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name, Wuthering Heights is a British Gothic romantic period drama that focuses on the childhood and different upbringings of its two main characters, Heathcliff (SolomonGlave and James Howson) and Catherine (ShannonBeer and Scodelario).Directed by American Honey's Oscar-winning director Andrea Arnold, this 2011 film is an intriguing take on the epic love story (its absence of music was an interesting choice) that meditates about social class, gender, love, and obsession, introducing audiences to flawed, layered, and three-dimensional characters. Although it doesn't rank high among other classic novel adaptations, Wuthering Heights is the perfect choice for period drama enthusiasts, featuring dream-like scenery that fully immerses audiences in it, and an incredible acting performance by Scodelario. (Daniela Gama)
Edited by Sandra Sirangelo Maggio and Valter Henrique de Castro FritschEditora ZoukISBN: 978-65-5778-130-2O Período Vitoriano: rastros literários e desdobramentos, edited by researchers Sandra Sirangelo Maggio and Valter Henrique Fritsch, delves deeply into the intricate web of Victorian literature, revealing its nuances and complexities amidst the social, political, and cultural context of the 19th century British society.This collection offers a meticulous approach to the works and themes that characterized the literature of the time, featuring renowned authors such as Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, and Mary Shelley. With twenty-four chapters rigorously developed by prominent researchers, the work highlights the role of literature as a faithful mirror of the tensions and contradictions of Victorian society.Each chapter constitutes a window into a distinct aspect of Victorian literature, investigating from philosophical and moral issues to the nuances of the novel and the gothic. The authors explore adaptations, derivative fiction, and themes that resonate in contemporary literature, cinema, and other forms of artistic expression.The result of a collaboration between the Postgraduate Program in Letters at UFRGS and Editora Zouk, this work transcends the merely academic scope, constituting an invitation to intellectual reflection through the corridors of Victorian literature, where the past dialogues in a captivating and elucidating way with the present.
A reinvenção de Jane Eyre no graphic novel Jane, de Aline Brosh McKennaby Débora Almeida de OliveiraMarionette: o entrelugar da mulher crioula em Wide Sargasso Seaby Deborah Mondadori Simionato and Marcela Zaccaro ChistéThe influence of water and air in Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyreby Caroline Navarrina de MouraA coloniser’s trauma and possible dialogues in Villetteby Alan Noronha
13. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë"I'm 150% convinced you have to be of a certain age to read and enjoy this book. It's like 19th century Twilight. I tried to read it in my 20s and couldn't see how Heathcliff (who is a raging a*hole) has stuck in our cultural consciousness as a dashing romantic hero."—lobsterlemonlime (Elizabeth Cotton)
Editorial Introductioo
pp. 277-281 Author: Sarah E. Fanning & Claire O’Callaghan
Literary Art and Moral Instruction in the Novels of Anne Brontë
pp. 282-295 Author: Marianne Thormählen
Abstract:
In her own time, Anne Brontë the writer was regarded as inferior to the two older “Bells”, largely because of the perceived slightness of her first novel and the alleged coarseness and brutality of her second. For the next hundred years, it was accepted that she was a pale second-rater in relation to her sisters. That image has now been discarded; but the notion that Anne Brontë was not quite her sisters’ equal as a literary artist lingers, influenced by the resistance of recent generations of critics to what they perceive as moral messages in literature. This keynote address argues that Anne Brontë the novelist was in no way inferior to Charlotte and Emily as a writer of fiction. It draws attention to the skills displayed by Anne Brontë in respect of characterisation, realistic observation, psychological acumen, style and idiom, nuance in the analysis of human behaviour and even – somewhat unexpectedly, given the frequently expressed criticisms of the construction of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) – narrative structure. The discussion ends with a tribute to Anne Brontë’s success in making readers keep turning the pages.
Singing from the Margins: Anne Brontë’s Surprising Poetic Afterlife
pp 296-308 Author: Sara L. PearsonAbstract
Anne Brontë was the only hymn-writer in her family, and her hymns have had a successful afterlife in multiple hymnals from 1858 to 1997. Her hymns have been used by a variety of religious denominations and sects, in numerous countries, among various groups of people, from children to university students to the sick and suffering. Although Charlotte Brontë’s selection of poems for the 1850 reissue of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was responsible for the publication of five of Anne’s seven published hymns, it was Anne’s own sensitivity to hymnody as a means of exploring religious faith that ensured her successful afterlife as a hymn writer.Footnote1 Various digital and Internet resources such as Google Books, www.hymnary.org, and YouTube have made it possible to discover more about Anne as a hymn-writer, including the fact that her hymn ‘Believe not those who say’ has appeared in over sixty hymnals. This article provides an overview of the afterlife of Anne Brontë’s hymns with the hope of prompting further investigation into this topic.Footnote
‘Is Childhood Then so All-Divine?’: Representations of Childhood in the Poetry of Anne Brontë
pp. 309-323 Author: Ciara Glasscott
Abstract:
Despite the increasing criticism of her traditional critical and cultural reputation as the “third Brontë” in recent years, the underestimation of Anne Brontë’s philosophical and political engagement remains tenacious. This is especially relevant when it comes to scholarly work on her poetry, where biographical and/or religious critical frameworks dominate. By contrast, this article is interested in Brontë’s poetic intervention in Victorian debates surrounding political and aesthetic conceptions of the child and childhood. Brontë simultaneously deploys and subverts traditionally Romantic imagery, interrogating this mode most explicitly in later poems such as ‘Memory’, ‘Dreams’ and ‘Z-’s Dream’. In these mature pieces, Brontë undercuts the more conventional presentation of such topics in her earlier poems with a self-reflexive meditation on the authenticity of nostalgic visions. Therefore, Brontë’s engagement with childhood becomes more vexed over time, mirroring the more realist representation of childhood in her novels. However, Brontë’s poetic work also reveals a deeper and more conflicted identification with the Romantic aesthetic of childhood than one might imagine the writer of Agnes Grey (1847) could possess, providing access to a more complete picture of Brontë’s position on these essential questions of innocence, nostalgia and childhood.
The Neo-Victorian Feminist Afterlife of Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) in Sam Baker’s The Woman Who Ran (2016)
pp. 324-335 Author: Julia Snyckers & Jeanne Ellis
Abstract:
Anne Brontë’s deliberate exposition in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall of gendered violence as the consequence of the structurally embedded sexism in the Victorian patriarchal socio-legal system is a daring example of feminist critique that was ahead of its time. This article examines the afterlife of Brontë’s feminism in Sam Baker’s The Woman Who Ran (2016), a neo-Victorian domestic noir thriller which re(dis)covers and repurposes Brontë’s novel for contemporary women readers. Baker uncovers the ongoing crisis of domestic violence and sexism in professional spheres that persist despite the progress achieved by Western feminist movements to secure women’s rights in the last century. We argue that The Woman Who Ran demonstrates just how generative Anne Brontë’s writing remains for conceptualising feminist issues in the twenty-first century.
Plotting the Governess: The Lessons of Agnes Grey
pp. 336-346 Author: Phillippa Janu
Abstract:
The journey undertaken by the Victorian governess in the nineteenth-century novel is frequently aligned with the developmental narrative of the Bildungsroman. However, this article explores how the demands of instruction and surveillance, and the expectation that the governess is simultaneously authoritative and submissive, limit her growth and that of her pupils. An examination of Anne Brontë’s depiction of the repetitive and prosaic work of teaching in her 1847 novel Agnes Grey reveals that in demanding the critical engagement of the reader, the novel resists any expectation that either text or teacher are inherent repositories of knowledge. Finally, I argue that the rich development of the governess that is characteristic to the Bildungsroman can also be located in the marriage plot.
‘Free from Soil’: The Curation of Anne Brontë
pp. 347-358 Author: Jessica Lewis
Abstract:
Famously described by her sister Charlotte as ‘long-suffering, self-denying, reflective, and intelligent, a constitutional reserve and taciturnity placed and kept her in the shade’, Anne Brontë has been consistently filtered through her eldest sister. This article suggests the notion of Brontë as a figure of curation, in acknowledging Charlotte Brontë’s personal agenda in the writing of the 1850 ‘Biographical notice of Ellis and Acton Bell’. With the intention of softening and feminising her sisters’ reputations, Charlotte’s (re)writing of Anne has been long accepted into Brontë lore. This article explores the consequences of the ‘Notice’ and its significance in the posthumous reception of Anne’s work as mainly autobiographical. It suggests that Anne Brontë’s enduring image as the meek, mild, moralist is a result of Charlotte’s careful and conscious curation, and explores the influence of this image on her literary legacy.NewsThe Anne Brontë Society: Changing the Narrativepp 359-361 Author: Lauren BruceEditorial - Reviews SectionEditorial. Reviews Sectionp 362 Author: Carolyne Van Der Meer
Book Reviewspp 363-364 Author: Bob Duckett
pp. 364-365 Author: Sarah Powell
pp. 366-367 Author: Rose Dawn Gantpp. 367-368 Author: Bob Ducketpp 369-384 Author: Sara L. Pearson, Peter Cook & James OgdenAbstract:This reading list is an annotated bibliography of scholarly and critical work on the Brontës published in 2021. We have attempted to compile a comprehensive list of resources by consulting the MLA International Bibliography, Academic Search Complete, and the Brontë Blog (http://bronteblog.blogspot.com). Book chapters and scholarly articles on the Brontës are included except those articles published in Brontë Studies. Entire books on the Brontës are in the reviews section of this journal. The author’s initials in brackets are provided after each annotation.Call for Articles: Brontë Studies Special Issue: The Brontës and the Wild
pp 385-386 Guest Editor: Dr Amber Pouliot
Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre
"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will," says Jane in Jane Eyre. Jane invented the narrative of ‘independent women’. Throughout the story, Jane makes choices that defy societal expectations. She refuses to be a submissive governess, walks away from a loveless marriage proposal, and prioritises her own well-being and happiness. She's a role model for anyone who's ever felt like they don't fit in or who dares to dream of a life beyond what society expects. (Reva Lakhmani)
From Wuthering Heights to Pride and Prejudice and even TV sitcoms like To the Manor Born, novelists, historians and film-makers have for hundreds of years been seduced by the romance of manor houses. (David Byers)
The Jane Eyre production in Moline is featured in the local news. Check this clip on 6KWQC.
The favorite cocktail at the bar, according to Ryan Camenisch, is the Jane Eyre, which is Earl Grey infused gin, cherry blossom syrup, blueberry purdo, lime and sparkling wine for $18. (Janet Patton)
To underline the magnificence of the Clare coast around Kilkee, it is worth quoting the noted English writer Charlotte Brontë, who spent her honeymoon there in 1854: “Such a wild iron-bound coast — with such an ocean-view as I had not yet seen and such battling of waves with rocks as I had never imagined.”Brontë wrote to a friend while staying in Kilkee, and apparently these lines were probably written only a couple of hundred metres from where the sewage plant is proposed to be located. It remains as stunning to this day. (Ronan Leo Tynan)
Para la escritura de La vida en miniatura me resultó especialmente provechosa la lectura del libro Hijas escritoras, de Maggie Lane, quien traza distintos perfiles biográficos de autoras inglesas en relación con sus padres. A menudo estas relaciones comparten patrones similares, en los que los padres representan para sus hijas escritoras tanto un motivo de inspiración como de sometimiento. Esto se ve de manera clara, por ejemplo, en la biografía de las hermanas Brontë: sus padres lo apostaron todo al único hermano varón, lo mandaron a estudiar a Oxford y a Cambridge desatendiendo a sus hijas y el hermano no se dedicó más que a beber. Pues bien, este mismo padre que dejó a sus hijas de lado fue una gran inspiración para las Brontë a la hora de escribir. Lo mismo podemos decir de Beatrix Potter, por ejemplo. (Pablo Bujalance) (Translation)
La épica historia de Catherine y Heathcliff, situada en los sombríos y desolados páramos de Yorkshire, constituye una asombrosa visión metafísica del destino, la obsesión, la pasión y la venganza. Con ella, Emily Brontë, que la publicó bajo un seudónimo masculino, rompió por completo con los cánones del decoro que la Inglaterra victoriana exigía en toda novela, tanto en el tema escogido como en la descripción de los personajes. La singularidad de su estructura narrativa y la fuerza de su lenguaje la convirtieron en una de las obras más perdurables e influyentes de la historia de la literatura. (María Yuste) (Translation)
Infobae (Argentina) reviews the latest novel by Jorge Fernández Díaz, Cora, and lists 'strong women' in literature, mentioning Catherine Earnshaw. European Writers Tour lists Heathcliffs all around. A 'happy' Charlotte Brontë quote is listed in this 'happy thoughts' list on Today.
Ángeles CasoTranslator: Claudia TaroloIllustrator: Alice BarberiniMarcos y MarcosISBN: 9788892941564“Guardate noi, invece, povere donne, costrette a scrivere di nascosto, a pubblicare sotto pseudonimo, a nascondere tutto questo fuoco dentro di noi, mascherando come ladre il desiderio e la furia. Guardateci stirare, cucinare, cucire, spazzare i pavimenti, cercando di rubare minuti, secondi, alla vita che scorre veloce per poter scavare lì dentro, nella brace che arde nelle nostre teste”.Crescono isolate, senza madre, in una canonica ai margini della brughiera. Soprattutto sono donne, e nell’Inghilterra vittoriana le donne devono solo sposarsi e fare figli. Sottomissione e bellezza, possibilmente un degno patrimonio, servono a conquistarsi un buon partito. Charlotte, Emily e Anne Brontë non sono certo ricche, la loro bellezza non rispetta i canoni dell’epoca; di sottomettersi a un uomo, poi, neanche a parlarne. Nutrono, per di più, una strana passione. Fin da bambine, ogni pomeriggio nella piccola sala da pranzo della canonica, tirano fuori gli scrittoi, affilano le penne e scrivono. Non si fermano qui; le tre sorelle Brontë, senza nessuna protezione, contro tutto, riescono a pubblicare. E quando pubblicano, sfondano. Non è un successo passeggero: Jane Eyre e Cime tempestose restano tra i romanzi fondamentali della letteratura mondiale. La signora di Wildfell Hall è un romanzo scandalosamente femminista, sempre più apprezzato.
Wave of Nostalgia, based in Main Street, Haworth, was named Independent Bookshop of the Year for the north in this year's British Book Awards, selected by the Bookseller magazine.Located in the home of the Brontë sisters, the bookshop aims to be the "home of strong women".Owner Diane Park is delighted with the top award.She said: "It's been the best ever year for Wave of Nostalgia, one in which we met so many fantastic customers new and old, introduced brilliant authors to our little community and received such tremendous feedback."To cap it all, we are amazed and excited to find out we're north of England winner in these awards."It's a huge accolade, particularly as there so many fantastic bookshops in our region."It's really very special and we'd like to thank everyone who has helped us to achieve this in only our third year as booksellers."A spokesperson for the British Book Awards said of Wave of Nostalgia: "The north England winner is a tiny shop in a village - Haworth in Yorkshire - that has several other places to buy books."Yet it grew sales by a quarter in 2023, through outstanding booksellers and range selection, attractive displays and big author events."Social media helped online sales soar."'Best bookshop ever', said one customer."Wave of Nostalgia will now go on to compete with eight other bookshops around the UK and Ireland for the overall Independent Bookshop of the Year Award.If it wins that, it will also be in the running to be win the title of Book Retailer of the Year.The final winners will be announced at the British Book Awards ceremony in London on May 13. (Michael Broomhead)
American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriars Playhouse, 10 S Market St, Staunton, VA 24401, USA
MARCH17, 11AM – 1:15PMJoin author Rachel Cantor at the beautiful American Shakespeare Center as she reads from her new novel, Half-Life of a Stolen Sister, an innovative revisioning of the Brontë family’s lives. Her reading will be interspersed with exciting, imaginative performances from Wuthering Heights by actors of the Staunton organization The Off Center.Afterward, Staunton Books and Tea on 34 East Beverley Street hosts book sales and a signing, as well as a cake celebrating the Bronte patriarch’s 246th birthday. The ASC is presenting Pride & Prejudice at 2:00PM, so you’ll have enjoy a fun-filled, literary, historically-theatrical day!The Virginia Festival of the Book Preview Events bring authors across the state before the main Festival in Charlottesville on March 20–24. Preview events are sponsored by Michelle and David Baldacci.
“This is the biggest production we have brought to the Black Box stage,” said director Lora Adams, BBT artistic director and co-founder.There are 14 in the cast (pared from the original version of 34 characters). Each performer (except Martin and Urbaitis) plays multiple parts, with ensemble and at least one named role. [...]“It’s brilliant the way Lora has it set up, because anyone who’s offstage is behind the scrim and they can all sing,” music director Amy Trimble said this week. “It’s a beautiful way of maximizing a small cast in a big production, where we need voices.”Trimble – who’s married to Urbaitis, whom she met putting on a Music Guild show in 2016 – brought the idea of doing “Jane Eyre” to Adams. She previously music directed “Clue” (when Urbaitis was Professor Plum) and “I Love You Because” at BBT, pre-pandemic.Trimble fell in love with the sweeping, dramatic music of “Jane Eyre” before it was on Broadway, in a Canadian recording, after it was her favorite novel of all time.“It has over 24 years, a couple times a year I would just need my soul filled with music and its songs just always did it,” she said Tuesday. “I have found it’s one that I go back to…It has so many songs, they’re simple and complex – which is exactly like the story and exactly like our set.”She remembers having an abridged, illustrated “Jane Eyre” when she was in 3rd grade, and also has seen several filmed versions.“There’s a romantic in all of us,” Adams said. “Especially when it’s hard to come by. Not every relationship you’re in works out.”She greatly admires how modern Jane is in speaking her mind and that she finds her happy ending.There’s a beautiful contrast between bigger-than-life Blanche (played by Shelley Cooper) and Jane, Trimble said.Blanche is a rival for Rochester to Jane, and Martin loves the story being focused on women. At the start of the show, Jane is constrained by society and years to be free, after being a captive bird.“She’s thrust into the world, forced to be strong and independent,” Martin said. “She always cares and has that soft spot inside her, but she has to be strong and independent to keep herself safe and make sure that she survives her circumstances, able to push through, see the world, and find her purpose.”Trimble and her mother owned and operated WaterMark Corners in downtown Moline, which closed Feb. 10 after 25 years in business. “Jane Eyre” helped Trimble to recover during the transition.“We started rehearsals in January and I would leave work emotionally exhausted,” she said. “It would be two and a half hours later, and it was the most beautiful, heartwarming experience. It came so easily – I know the show so well, I just knew it in an intimate way.”“It was absolutely therapeutic,” Trimble said. “It really gave me like, during rehearsal for two and a half hours a night, nothing else existed. Very rarely does that happen.” (Jonathan Turner)
So begins “James”, a novel by Percival Everett that reimagines Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from Jim’s perspective. Mr Everett, a professor of English literature at the University of Southern California, is known for producing genre-defying works, ranging from a satire of the publishing industry that inspired the film “American Fiction” to a murder mystery about lynchings in the American South. (“The Trees” was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 2022.)In retelling Twain’s classic American tale with a twist, Mr Everett joins a long tradition of writers who have dragged marginalised characters into the centre of new (old) tales. The modern trend began with “Wide Sargasso Sea” (1966), when Jean Rhys gave a voice to Mr Rochester’s wife, the “madwoman in the attic”, from “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë.
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean RhysA passionate, feminist prequel to Jane Eyre, Rhys’s final novel gives a voice to the madwoman in the attic. Before she became Bertha Mason, Rochester’s first wife was we learn, the beautiful, troubled Antoinette Cosway. Dramatic and painterly, Rhys’s narrative captures the beauties of the landscape of Jamaica, Cosway’s childhood home, as well as the ugliness of historical guilt and complicity. Groundbreaking on its publication in 1966, Wide Sargasso Sea has lost none of its charge. (Sophie Ratcliffe)
What kind of reader were you as a child? Which childhood books and authors stick with you?Probably revealing that I devoured the romances when I was too young to understand them — “Gone With the Wind,” “Wuthering Heights.”
Now 67 years young, the West Midlands native – who became a household name during the heady days of 1990s lad culture and Three Lions – loosely frames his new show around the idea that however much he reaches for loftier artistic goals, the juvenile “knob jokes” somehow always find him.The former English literature scholar likens them evocatively to Catherine shouting “let me in!” at the windows in Wuthering Heights. “That’s what knob jokes are like in my life,” he laments.It is a clever conceit that enables him to litter the show with his beloved smutty jokes, while approaching the material in a more thoughtful way in keeping with the times. (Aoife Moriarty)
What inspired you to write “After Rebecca”?I’m a big reader and was raised on the classics. Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca is (was?!) one of my favourite books, alongside Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre – so I am drawn to atmospheric, gothic novels. (Ginger Gorman)
Included in the musical selections are some numbers that Sakamoto hadn’t previously performed as solo piano arrangements, like “The Wuthering Heights” (composed as the theme for the 1992 film). (Alissa Wilkinson)
Friday, March 15, through Friday, March 29Musica & Lyrics: Michael Go
rdoj, Aspir fuBlack Box Theatre, 1623 Fifth Avenue, Moline ILStarring as Jane is Kierra Lynn and Joe Urbanitis as Rochester. Other roles include Shelley Cooper (Blanche/Miss Scatchard); Daniel Williams (St. John Rivers); Karen LeFebere (Mrs. Fairfax); Stephanie Perry (Mrs. Reed/Lady Ingram); Eden Myers (Helen Burns/Adelle); Em Foster (Young Jane/Louise Ingram); Kirsten Myers (Vicar/Col. Dent); Abby Berg (Bertha); Jacob Berg (John Reed/Lord Ingram); Doug Kutzli (Mr. Brocklehurst/Robert); Heather Lueder (Grace Poole); Tyler Henning (Mason.)Music Director is Amy Trimble, and Stage Director/Designer is Lora Adams.
Further information in River Cities' Reader., thecity1.
The National Theatre and Northern Stage today released rehearsal images for Sarah Gordon’s new play Underdog: The Other Other Brontë, an irreverent retelling of the lives and legend of English literature’s famed sisters – the Brontës – playing the Dorfman theatre from 27 March to 25 May.A co-production with Northern Stage, helmed by their Artistic Director Natalie Ibu (The White Card) in her National Theatre directing debut, this play is about sisterhood, jealousy, the power of words and the sibling dynamics that shaped the Brontë’s uneven rise to fame.The show stars Rhiannon Clements (Hollyoaks), Adele James (Queen Cleopatra) and Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones) as the Brontës, alongside Nick Blakeley, Julian Moore-Cook, Adam Donaldson, Kwaku Mills and James Phoon.The creative team, led by director Natalie Ibu, includes set and costume designer Grace Smart, lighting designer Zoe Spurr, associate lighting designer Charlotte Burton, sound designer Alexandra Faye Braithwaite, movement director Ingrid Mackinnon, fight director Haruka Kuroda, associate movement director Ana Beatriz Meireles, casting director Naomi Downham and staff director Natasha Haws.Underdog: The Other Other Brontë is playing in the Dorfman theatre from 27 March until 25 May, with press night on 4 April.
'The Catcher in the Rye' by J.D. Salinger (1951)Alongside Wuthering Heights, this is one of the two novels that made me want to be a writer.
8.”Wuthering Heights” (1939) –A tragic love story based on Emily Brontë’s novel of the same name. It explores obsessive love that transcends death between the doomed Catherine and Heathcliff. (Matthew Lynch)
A Thursday Talk at the Brontë Parsonage MuseumMarch 14th 2024 02:00pm - 02:45pmBrontë Event Space at the Old School Room“In her deep mourning dress….her fine eyes blazing with meaning, and her sensible face indicating a habit of self-control… she seemed a perfect household image”– Harriet Martineau’s Daily News Obituary, 6 April 1855Following on from last year’s talk on Charlotte and Celebrity, this talk will focus on how the legacy of the Brontë family was created and how authentic a view this provided. The process began with Charlotte’s curation of Emily and Anne’s literary output, but is most strongly associated with Elizabeth Gaskell’s Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) which shaped decisively not only how Charlotte was perceived but also her father, her husband, her brother and significant figures associated with the Brontës, such as Carus Wilson and Lydia Robinson. This often-mythical view will be compared to the perceptions of those who knew or met Charlotte and her family, including Ellen Nussey, George Smith and the people of Haworth.This event will take place at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth. Can't make it in person? No problem! We will be running an online version of this Thursday Talk the same day. Book for the online version of this event here.
Evening Lecture/SeminarEmily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights from 1847 is one of the most celebrated novels in 19th-century literature. Joseph Luzzi, professor of literature at Bard College, reveals the novel’s defining qualities and characteristics, with a focus on its Romantic elements, dazzling mix of the supernatural and natural, and construction of compelling characters such as Heathcliff and Catherine. Luzzi also discusses the different modes of storytelling Brontë employs in a work that seamlessly
Via Smithsonian Magazine.
blends a variety of storytelling techniques and sophisticated literary devices.
Wave of Nostalgia won the British Book Awards Independent Bookshop of the Year competition for the north, selected by publishing magazine the Bookseller.Owner Diane Park said it had been the "best year ever" for the shop."It's a huge accolade, particularly as there so many fantastic bookshops in our region," she said.Wave of Nostalgia will compete with eight other bookshops from around the UK and Ireland for the overall Independent Bookshop of the Year Award.If they win that they will also be in the running to be named Book Retailer of the Year title.The final winners will be announced at the British Book Awards ceremony in London on 13 May.Wave of Nostalgia opened on Haworth's main cobbled street in 2013, just a stone's throw away from the Bronte Parsonage Museum, and sold handmade clothes as well as gifts and books.It became a specialist, affiliated bookshop in 2021, after the coronavirus lockdown meant making made-to-measure clothes problematic.The shop is themed on strong women, conservation and LGBTQ+."Our stock is designed by inspiring women, some local, some further afield but all in the UK," Ms Park said.She said the award was "really very special and we'd like to thank everyone who has helped us to achieve this in only our third year as booksellers."The British Book Awards, established in 1990, aims to highlight authors and illustrators, and the industry which brings them to readers.They are judged by leading industry experts, authors, journalists and celebrities and are regarded as "the BAFTAs of the book trade". (Julia Bryson)
Jane Eyreby Charlotte BrontëI read just the first paragraph, and it immediately gripped me, it was about a little girl, it was written in the first person, she was fed up, and it was raining. And then as I read on, she has these horrible cousins, particularly that the eldest boy, and they bully her, it was far sort of stronger meat than the sort of thing that you came across in children’s books. And I was just fascinated.
15 'Jane Eyre' (1943)Directed by Robert StevensonWhile this 1943 film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name may not be on the same level as the 2011 one (especially for audiences who like modern films), the Robert Stevenson picture is certainly worthwhile. As expected, the story centers around the titular character, played by Joan Fontaine, hired by the lord of a mysterious manor house, Edward Rochester (Orson Welles in one of his best roles), and tasked to care for his young daughter.Jane Eyre is a solid adaptation of a classic literary tale, which, like many other great classics on this list, is available to stream for free on the digital platform. Stevenson's black-and-white film's stunning cinematography of the brooding Jane Eyre plays a huge part in what makes it appealing. However, the acting performances — particularly by Fontaine, who brings the heroine to life flawlessly — are also worth a mention. (Daniela Gama)
According to Visit Peak District and Derbyshire, the village has a “rich historical, industrial, and literary associations”.They added: “It inspired author Charlotte Brontë when writing ‘Jane Eyre’, and nearby North Lees Hall was visited several times by the author in 1845, becoming the main inspiration for Thornfield Hall. (Christopher Sharp)
4ᵉ édition du Festival Femmes Droits sur MarsMarch 13 14h30 to 16h30CMA Madon 5ᵉRomancière et poétesse anglaise, “Les hauts de Hurlevent”, son unique roman, est considéré comme un classique de la littérature anglaise et mondiale. Cette causerie sera animée par Jehan Armagnac (Président du Club des Poètes de Marseille).
Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëNo classic literature list would be complete without a Brontë novel… except a transition classics list. I wouldn’t say this is that easy or fun to read, and, while it’s a beautifully haunting love story, it’s not the same energy or as fun as an Austen. (Malayna Chang)
William Wyler’s Wuthering Heights’ Oscar statuetteIn 1939, Director William Wyler adapted Emily Brontë’s famed novel Wuthering Heights into a film, casting legends like Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff and Merle Oberon as Cathy. The film won high praise for its fantastic scoring and cinematography, receiving an Oscar for the latter. In 2012, Wuthering Heights’ Oscar for Best Cinematography was put up for auction, fetching USD 226,876. It was the only Academy Award won by the classic film which marked the Golden era of filmmaking. (Surabhi Redcar)
Jane Eyre2006Before screenwriter Sandy Welch adapted the aforementioned Emma for the BBC, she brought this Charlotte Brontë story to the network, with Ruth Wilson making a breakout turn as the titular governess with a troublesome past. “A lavish production in all the right ways — script, cast, direction, location, details — this is a perfect literary adaptation,” one IMDb user rhapsodized. (Dan Clarendon)
March 14, 18h30 – 19h30Musée de la Ville de BruxellesWebinar in EnglishDiscover the fascinating history of the Brontë sisters in Brussels.Dive into an overlooked chapter of literary history with the Brussels City Museum. This Thursday, March 14th, our speaker will reveal the captivating story of Charlotte and Emily Brontë's life in Brussels!Join us for an exclusive webinar where Helen MacEwan, author, and Brontë sisters enthusiast, unveils the secrets of their Belgian odyssey. From their transformative experiences at the Héger-Parent boarding school for young ladies, Helen sheds light on the importance of the Belgian capital for the two sisters.Don't miss this opportunity to stroll the cobblestone streets of Brussels, and explore some lesser-known aspects of the Brontës' history and the Belgian capital with Helen MacEwan as your guide!
10 – Wuthering Heights (Peter Kosminsky, 1992)La readaptación de Cumbres Borrascosas a lado de un debutante Ralph Fiennes no tendría en su momento mucha suerte hacía con la crítica y audiencia, sin embargo con el tiempo se haría de cierto culto y recordación gracias precisamente a la gran química entre los protagonistas, Binoche en especial, un poco más experimentada y captando la sensibilidad trágica de Catherine en lo que firmemente es un gran registro dramático por parte de ambos. Quizá no le haga justicia plena ni al libro ni a la adaptación clásica de Laurence Olivier, pero es eficiente y permitió a Binoche la internacionalización (y a Fiennes un tremendo debut actoral). (El FETT) (Translation)
#2 - Cime tempestose (1992)Nell'adattamento di Peter Kosminsky del capolavoro di Emily Brontë del 1847, Juliette Binoche interpreta Catherine Earnshaw, una delle eroine più famose della letteratura del XIX secolo. Da bambina, viene travolta dall'arrivo di uno zingaro, Heathcliff, adottato dal padrone della tenuta di Cime Tempestose. Da adulti, l'amore inconfessato tra i due protagonisti si trasforma gradualmente in odio distruttivo. (Manon Garrigues & Giacomo Aricò) (Translation)
But other critics, and prize committees, liked the book, for which the phrase “mordantly funny” might have been coined, and over the years it has found a devoted audience, among women especially, some of the same who also savor the work of the Brontë sisters and the castle books of Shirley Jackson and Dodie Smith. (Alexandra Jacobs)
Romance novels and period dramas have also given way to Byronic heroes, men who have gloomy personalities but are capable of strong passion towards their romantic interest. Characters like Heathcliff in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights serve as an apt example of this, and these kinds of characters are also ones that serve the female gaze well in cinema. (Roxy Simons)
The Deep Dive talks about the latest edition of Jeopardy! where this question appeared:
We didn’t get this one, and we’d wager that most of the audience playing at home didn’t either. They’re looking for “Rochester”, a love interest of the titular protagonist in 1847 Charlotte Brontë novel Jane Eyre, which is one of those books that everybody knows about, but nobody ever reads. (Braden Maccke)
'An Education in Malice' by S. T. GibsonThis one’s for the dark academia girlies who devoured Ninth House and The Atlas Six. An isolated women’s college, a Gothic aesthetic that would make the Brontë sisters proud, an all-consuming passion between sapphic academic rivals…what’s not to like here? Light a candle to maximize the moody vibes and dive in. (Lizz Schumer)
Their minds connect as fundamentally as their souls, a trope that recalls Gothic classics like Jane Eyre and makes their romance all the more pulse-racing. (Kelcie Mattson)
En su introducción a la edición que Valdemar publicó en 2004 de Cumbres Borrascosas, el crítico de cine Antonio José Navarro afirmaba que la novela de Emily Brontë representa “la rebelión del Mal contra el Bien, la rebelión del Maldito, del paria, hacia un universo que lo ha condenado arbitrariamente a la infelicidad más absoluta”. Ciento cincuenta años después de la publicación de este clásico de la literatura gótica surgió en Inglaterra una corriente musical que celebraba fantasías tenebrosas frente a una realidad aterradora. (...)Mi única duda es si en esa lista no debería estar también la fabulosa Kate Bush. Con solamente dieciocho años grabó una canción que en tres minutos capturaba la tormenta pasional de Cumbres borrascosas, claro preámbulo del álbum Hounds of Love, aparecido en 1985, que era pura literatura gótica hecha música. (Rafa Cervera) (Translation)
L’ingenua studentessa lo vede come un eroe senza macchia e senza paura, ce lo descrive attingendo alla sua biblioteca: «Sembra uscito da Cime tempestose, o da Jane Eyre, o forse da un film western. Va a cavallo e quando gli dici qualcosa lui controbatte con due parole, poi si gira di spalle e se ne va, proprio come un pistolero senza nome. Ma forse, ora che lo conosco meglio, mi sembra assomigli a Konstantin Levin in Anna Karenina». (Mario Baudino) (Translation)
Vanguardia (México) and La Capital (Argentina) mention the Brontë pseudonyms.
Adapted by Christine Davey from the novel by Charlotte BrontëTysons Corner Center,1961 Chain Bridge Rd, Tysons, VA 22102, United StatesMarch 9, 10, 16, 17 at 7pmJane Eyre is the story of a young woman discovering the freedom of an independent life. The narrative follows Jane through her difficult youth with a tyrant aunt and mean cousins, to her education at Lowood Institution, to her work as governess for the enigmatic and mysterious Mr. Rochester. Adapted from the rich and remarkable novel by Charlotte Brontë, this theatrical re-imagining sparkles with life, love, and energy.A story ahead of its time, Jane Eyre sparkles with grand ensemble moments while also venturing into stark, domestic drama.
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