Jess Murray’s Emily, left, Lara Stafford’s Charlotte and Millie Rhodes’s Anne Brontë in York Settlement Community Players’ Underdog: The Other Other Brontë. Picture: John Saunders
YORK Settlement Community Players are to stage the York premiere of Sarah Gordon’s Underdog: The Other Other Brontë at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from October 13 to 17.
Premiered in 2024 at the National Theatre, London, it tells the story of the rivalry between the Brontë sisters from Charlotte’s perspective, revealing truths behind why we know Anne only as the “third sister” – or the “Other Other Brontë”.
Director Claire Morley, who last directed for the Settlement Players in 2014 when staging Bertolt Brecht’s Drums In The Night, says: “I saw the original production performed by Northern Stage & the National Theatre at Newcastle, directed by Natalie Ibu.
“I was interested first from an actor’s perspective, because they’re characters I could relate to, as northerners, and because they all had great monologues. But I was also struck by the stage craft, the contemporary feel of the dialogue and the staging, which I love, where two worlds merge.
Underdog director Claire Morley. Picture: Tom Barker
“I liked the theatricality that the play calls for in performance as it’s a very knowing piece where Charlotte, as the narrator, acknowledges the audience throughout. It’s really clever in that sense.”
As for directing, “Underdog really appealed to me because, while it tells the story of this incredible literary family who are so entwined in the national (and Yorkshire!) cultural fabric, it doesn’t put them on a pedestal. We see them as real, flawed human beings.
“It’s a traditional story of famous sisters who we’ve all grown up knowing about, and it’s told in a linear way, but it feels contemporary too, and I’m looking forward to reflecting that further in aspects like the soundtrack. I could choose very modern songs, so expect current chart hits rather than choral music!”
The song choices were yet to be confirmed at the time of this interview, but Claire foresaw using songs in the vogue of Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Billie Eilish.
Director Claire Morley, seated, with Underdog cast members Underdog cast Jon Cook, left, Pamela Gourley, Lara Stafford, Millie Rhodes, Jess Murray, Maggie Smales and Nick Patrick Jones. Picture: John Saunders
Expect “strong language, death and grief, addiction and a suicide attempt” too, hence the play carries a content warning and an age guidance of 12 plus, given that “they don’t always talk about romantic, young love, but jealousies and rivalries too”.
“I’ve had to warn my mother that Emily calls Charlotte a ‘tw*t’!” says cast member Lara Stafford. Last seen as the title character in Black Treacle Theatre’s production of Howard Brenton’s Anne Boleyn at Theatre@41 in March, she will play Charlotte, joined by Settlement Players regular Jess Murray as Emily and 22-year-old University of York MA Theatre-Making student Millie Rhodes as Anne.
Nick Patrick Jones, Jon Cook, Maggie Smales and Pamela Gourley will make up the accompanying multi-rolling ensemble.
“We’re so thrilled to bring this very Yorkshire literary play to Theatre@41 next week,” says Settlement Players’ chair, Natalie Roe. “We went on a cast and crew trip to the Brontë Parsonage in Haworth on Yorkshire Day, which helped everyone get into the world of the play. There’s such a great energy in the team, we can’t wait to share Underdog with you.”
Looking bookish: Jess Murray’s Anne, left, Lara Stafford’s Charlotte and Millie Rhodes’s Anne Brontë. Picture: John Saunders
Cast member Millie Rhodes can draw on her West Yorkshire roots: “I grew up in Oxenhope, in Brontë country, and spent a lot of my weekends on the moors, but I hadn’t read either of Anne’s novels [Agnes Grey and The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, published under the pen name of Acton Bell] , when I got the role – though I do have plans to read Agnes Grey after I finish my Masters in Theatre-Making,” she says.
“I actually auditioned for Charlotte but now I’ve fallen in love with Anne,” says Millie, who earlier studied Acting for Stage and Screen at York College.
“I feel like I’m quite like her. Anne reminds me of certain aspects of myself that I don’t want to be reminded of. Like being the underdog. I think everyone feels like the underdog at some point in their life.”
Jess “doesn’t like to go for a particular when auditioning” but initially found Charlotte the most interesting, “but Emily is a really interesting character too”. “I’ve had so many messages from people saying they’re pleased for me that I’m playing Emily. I don’t know how accurate it is to how she’s portrayed in the play, but here she’s very comfortable in her own skin and doesn’t care what people think about her. That’s all in the script.”
Meeting the sisters: Millie Rhodes, left, Jess Murray and Lara Stafford beneath the portrait of the Brontë sisters at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, West Yorkshire. Picture: John Saunders
Making a sales pitch for why audiences should see Underdog, Claire says: “Firstly, it’s a great cast, a strong ensemble cast, which I think always makes it interesting when lots of characters – 30 in all – pop up. It’s fast paced, with a contemporary feel to a wonderful story, and you’ll definitely go away having learnt something about the Brontës that you didn’t know before.”
Lara says: “I’ll say that the audience are going to go away wanting to pick up the books because it really focuses your attention on great literature.”
Claire concludes: “It’s sincere but it’s fun too, showing the sisters in a light they have not been seen in before. It doesn’t shy away from their faults. They’re proper humans as well as amazing novelists, which makes them funny too.”
York Settlement Community Players in Underdog: The Other Other Bronte, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk/.