Underdog premiered at the National in 2024, playing to full houses. It’s a bold re-imagining, perhaps a re-claiming, of the Brontë story (myth / legend!) from a ‘knowing’ and therefore modern perspective. The drama revolves around Charlotte and Anne and the events surrounding the writing and publication of several (now rather famous) novels. Charlotte narrates the action of the play, trying desperately to justify what appear to be at times selfish, rather shocking actions in relation to her sister’s legacy.

The play is a riot of colour, humour, movement and music, and the style is fast and furious – a wonderful challenge for the eight actors. This is NOT a tale of meek women and uptight men! There will be loud music, loud swearing, general loud-‘ness’ and some brilliant physical set pieces. There is also grief, regret and hard-hitting, emotional dialogue.

We’ll work in an ensemble style with a playful, collaborative approach to the challenge of the text. This is the kind of experimental stuff that actors either LOVE or are terrified of! The three sisters do have defined roles and ‘lines’ but five other actors play over 30 different characters and are ever-present in the space – so these roles are definitely gender-, age- and colour-blind: the key requirement being energy and adaptability. For those who saw Bovary in 2024, there are similarities in terms of style and the volume of costume / prop changes!

Cast

Charlotte – narrator and eldest sister. Keen for fame – to be ‘forever known’.

Emily – middle sister with the ‘wildest’ imagination. Guardian to Anne and peacemaker in the many family disputes.

Anne – younger sister. Meek and mild? No – definitely not!

Note: These roles could be played by actors in their mid-twenties to late thirties, but equally (because this is a re-imagining and NOT a piece of naturalistic historical drama) they could be played by actors of different ages. They don’t need to ‘look’ like sisters.

Ensemble of five actors – At the National these roles were played by young men, but this is not essential at all. They play a range of roles including Elizabeth Gaskell, Branwell Brontë, Brocklehurst, literary critics, etc. – often several characters in one scene, so I think that physical energy, generosity and adaptability are crucial!

Auditions will hopefully be fun and will take the form of:

Group workshop

A variety of text-based exercises exploring style of production – using text including:

– pp 63-66 (critics)

– pp 79-83 (‘There’s been a mix up’)

Group text reading

Be prepared to read a selection of pages including:

– Miss Ingram’s dialogue on pages 20 and 21

– ‘Ladylike Tricks’ (pp 63-65)

– ‘The Room’ (pp 110-111)

Individual work

All actors to choose one of the following:

– Charlotte’s opening prologue (pp 1-2)

– Charlotte’s speech at the opening of Act II (p 51)

– Emily’s dialogue with Charlotte (pp 100-101)

– Anne’s dialogue with Charlotte (mid p 67-p 68)

– George’s letter (p 77)

Please let me know which audition you’ll be attending so I can plan activities!

Scripts and more information available by email: [email protected]

Any questions, do drop me an email – would love to hear from you.