By Trudi-Rose Edwards
★★★★
Underdog: The Other Other Brontë begins with arguably the most famous Brontë – Charlotte – accosting unsuspecting audience members, demanding to know their favourite Brontë novel. She’s waiting for Jane Eyre to be named (and will dismiss anything else, including her sister Emily’s epic, Wuthering Heights, as ‘overrated’) before she takes to the stage to begin narrating the story of literature’s most famous sister act.
Between them, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë have countless biographies and their works have been studied, dissected, interpreted and adapted for as long as they’ve been published. With that in mind, the fact that Underdog tells the story of the sisters’ relationships and rivalries in a fresh and entertaining manner is impressive. Told from the point of view of Charlotte, Underdog examines the competition and rivalries between the sisters as well as their connections and deep love for each other.
Charlotte Brontë (Gemma Whelan who seems to be thoroughly enjoying the role) is of course, not the underdog of the story. That title goes to the youngest of the sisters, whose work is most overlooked; Anne Brontë (Rhiannon Clements), author of Agnes Grey and the scandalous The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Through Charlotte’s eyes we see that Anne is the ‘other’ other Brontë; meek, mousy and immemorable. Underdog dives deeper into their relationship and shines a light on Charlotte’s desperate ambition to be remembered amongst the literary greats and not be eclipsed by either of her sisters.
Sarah Gordon’s script is filled with quips and one-liners (a dig at Jane Austen featuring on a banknote springs to mind). Witty and amusing, it purposely melds Victorian hardship with 21st century modernisms that make the sisters all the more relatable.
Gemma Whelan’s Charlotte swaggers around the stage perfectly countering her blunt and unforgiving treatment of her sisters with an ever-present paranoia that she will never amount to a thing. Rhiannon Clements’ excellent Anne is as endearing and loveable as history would have us believe, and there’s a child-like sweetness to her that contrasts the harshness of Whelan’s Charlotte.
Emily Brontë (Adele James, underused) is – despite what the play’s title would like you to believe – the actual other Brontë in this play, somewhat overlooked and absent for several scenes. She is the no-nonsense middle sister who plays peacemaker (albeit in a snarky and impatient way). It’s a shame that the character doesn’t have more to do; Adele James delivers a devastating monologue in the final act on what it means to be a sister which leaves you wishing the play had explored more of Emily’s relationships with both her sisters.
Directed by Natalie Ibu, Act 1 in particular zips along with plenty to enjoy; the performances, humour and pacing all executed wonderfully. Act 2 however, does stumble a little. Darker than the first act – to be expected, chances are most audiences are aware of the Brontës fates – it spends its first 20 minutes clinging onto the comedy of the first act, only to then hurry through to the emotional finale. As such, some of the ‘moments’ lack a real gut punch and seem all too rushed for any major impact (I still shed a tear but that’s credit to the actresses).
Underdog also suffers from the same, slightly preachy tone of many contemporary plays. Characters take centre stage to deliver soaring monologues to the gentle swell of music on the themes of agency, inequality and legacy in a way that’s all a bit ‘GCSE History’ in terms of subtlety. There’s a lack of nuance which, at times, reads like the impassioned diary entries of a teenager who just learnt that being a woman generally sucked in the Victorian age.
That said, Underdog’s finest moments are those where we’re not being told, but shown. The relationship between all three sisters is fascinating and more time could have been spent just ‘hanging out’ with them. The jokes are good – and not try-hard – it’s a genuinely funny play. The performances are top-notch and the subject matter enduringly fascinating.
Much to Charlotte Brontë’s dismay, you’ll leave the theatre wanting to read Anne’s works.
Underdog: The Other Other Brontë moves from The National Theatre to the Northern Stage, Newcastle up on Tyne from 7-22 June