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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Underdog: The Other Brontë

From left, Rhiannon Clements as Anne Brontë, Gemma Whelan as Charlotte Brontë, and Adele James as Emily Brontë.

Mar 27 – May 25, 2024
Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1 9PX, UK

The Brontës are among the most renowned sisters in history. There’s Charlotte, the eldest, whose masterpiece Jane Eyre was published in 1847, when she was 31. Emily, the middle sister, saw her Wuthering Heights published the same year; she was 29. The youngest sister, Anne, is often forgotten. Yet she too wrote a novel, Agnes Grey, that was published in 1847; she was 27. Though Agnes Grey was celebrated and sold well, it did not take hold as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights did. And what do we make of the fact that Charlotte delayed a second printing of Anne’s controversial second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, until after Anne’s death, and edited Emily’s poetry with too heavy of a hand? Sarah Gordon’s new play, Underdog: The Other Brontë, explores the rivalries of the brilliant Brontë sisters. Natalie Ibu directs. —Jensen Davis