Spotlight Sunday: THE BRONTES: A MUSICAL
After beginning life back in 2014, and after years of development, The Brontës: A Musical, a new show by female-run theatre company Prudencia Productions, has recently enjoyed its premiere run at The Space Theatre in London from 16-20 August 2022 following a workshop last year.
Written by Lucas Thariruzzaman Syed, Katie Palmer and Sarah Lucas, this New York originated musical sees young authors Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell Brontë navigating the world around them through their art and their relationships with one another. As they grow up together, they begin to experience love, loss, and the pressures of careerism, each finding that their writing has the ability to take on a life of its own, empowering them as individuals and threatening to affect their family life.
Sibling rivalry. Heartbreak. Addiction. Patriarchy. REALLY bad weather. Discover how literature’s more volatile sibling hood penned their way to infamy against all odds in this musical.
Described as a ‘heartfelt take on one of the most impactful families of artists the world has ever seen’, this new musical stars Anya Williams as Charlotte, Megan Henson as Emily, James Tudor Jones as Branwell, Tom Blackmore as George Smith/Ensemble, Emma Cobby as Anne, Aaran Perry as Professor Heger/Ensemble and Lucie Neale as Lady Robinson/Ensemble, with direction by Victoria Hadel. Griffin Jenkins is the production’s musical director, with technical direction by Connor Hadel and choreography by Laura Dawn Platt.
The show had a workshop production at Word on the Water in 2021, with co-owner Paddy Screech stating “it was magical. There was something very special about The Brontës performances. Something that called back to the way of being and thinking that predates all of this contemporary madness. What a delight!”
With its lush, intimate score and witty, emotive lyrics, The Brontës: A Musical looks set to present the tale of this famous family’s writing talents in a new manner, displaying the impact that their work had on them with the team behind the show hoping that the “emotionally charged script and rich score will allow our production to rival some of the most long running West End musicals.”
Director Victoria Hadel said that upon meeting Megan Henson, her co-founder of Prudencia Productions that they “soon struck up a friendship and realised that our artistic values were aligned. We both have a lot for compelling storytelling, strong female characters, and great music. Since the workshop, we have worked together on four different projects, as creatives, performers, directors, and producers. We feel it’s time to take the reins and have full artistic ownership of our work.”
Megan Henson, producer of the show who also plays the role of Emily Brontë, added: “We want to amplify female voices, and create theatre that, whilst not shying away from dark themes, is entertaining and joyous, celebrating the kind of theatre that we would want to see. Above all else, Prudencia Productions champions amazing stories, strong female characters and great music.”
You can watch a trailer here.
For more information on the musical, please click here.
