The Complete Plays: Brontës (1975)

Production Details
Title:
Author:
New Play:

Venue:
Location:
Staging:
Brontës
Bob Eaton & Peter Clough
Yes

The Library Theatre, Scarborough
Large Lecture Room
Three-sided
First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:
22 September 1975
22 September 1975
31 October 1975
Company Details
Director:
Design:
Music:
Music:

Stage Manager:
Deputy Stage Manager:
Assistant Stage Manager:
Bob Eaton
Helga Wood
Bob Eaton
Peter Clough

David Millard
Kevin Wood
Wendy Murray
Character
Anne Bronte
Charlotte Bronte
Emily Bronte
Branwell Bronte
Patrick Bronte
Maria Branwell / Elizabeth Branwell /
Tabitha Ackroyd / Ellen Nussey
Rev Carus Wilson / Tom Spring /
William Weightman / George Gooch
William Robinson / Robert Southey /
Francis Henry Grundy
Actor
Alison Skilbeck
Janet Dale
Polly Warren
Malcolm Hebden
Christopher Godwin
Wendy Murray

Stephen Mallatratt

Kevin Wood
Why is this play significant?
The first of several plays produced by the company over the decades looking at the lives of the Brönte sisters; of whom, Anne Brontë famously died in Scarborough in 1849. More significantly, Brontë's marked the acting debut of Malcolm Hebden with the company, who would go on to play a vital role in the development of the company over the next 21 years including a period as Associate Director between 1990 and 1996.
Notes
○ Brontës was written to coincide with a Brontë Festival being held in Scarborough in 1975.
○ The play is occasionally incorrectly referred to as The Brontës in publications about the company's history.
○ During the 1974 and 1975 winter seasons at The Library Theatre, Scarborough, the Library Committee did not make the venue's Concert Room available; this room being where The Library Theatre had been based since 1955. In its place, a smaller room on the same floor - the Large Lecture Room - was offered but which could not incorporate theatre-in-the-round with productions performed three-sided.
All research for this page by Simon Murgatroyd. Image copyright: Scarborough Theatre Trust