CHARLOTTE'S LETTERS by Jennifer O'Grady

2020 Rising Artists Playwrights Award / 1st Place Henley Rose Award / Newvember Festival Dublin / Irish Rep New Works Reading Series / O'Neill Semifinalist / Top 25 Plays, Pandora's Box and other honors

(Full length) A fresh, theatrical take on the Brontë sisters, intertwining novelist Charlotte Brontë's two years as an unpublished young woman at a Belgian school--where she...
2020 Rising Artists Playwrights Award / 1st Place Henley Rose Award / Newvember Festival Dublin / Irish Rep New Works Reading Series / O'Neill Semifinalist / Top 25 Plays, Pandora's Box and other honors

(Full length) A fresh, theatrical take on the Brontë sisters, intertwining novelist Charlotte Brontë's two years as an unpublished young woman at a Belgian school--where she became increasingly and dangerously close to her married tutor and employer, Monsieur Heger--with her friend and biographer Mrs. Gaskell's struggle to salvage Charlotte's posthumous reputation and trailblazing novels. Linking both stories is the mystery of Charlotte's attraction to Heger, who encouraged her writing while helping inspire scandalous books like JANE EYRE. A play about love, friendship, and the making--and unmaking--of female art and identity.
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CHARLOTTE'S LETTERS

Recommended by

  • Claudia Haas:
    30 Jan. 2020
    “ A gorgeous layered play about love, duty, and memory. I was hooked from the lyrical opening through the end. What does a biographer owe her subject? Absolute truth (warts & all) or a truth ensconced in the mores of the times? I loved the mixture of “duties” required by Charlotte to family, work, and her calling combined with Gaskell’s duty as biographer and protector-of-reputation. There is irony that while Gaskell cleansed Chatlotte’s reputation, she also preserved it. O’Grady seamlessly puts together a story of complicated women navigating a time that was not kind to them. ”
  • Bryan Stubbles:
    21 Dec. 2019
    “ If you're really into the Brontë sisters, you're gonna love this play. ”
  • Doug DeVita:
    22 Nov. 2019
    “ Oh, how I love this play. As a fan of 19th century British literature, and the Brontës in particular, reading this was a treat. Elegantly written and beautifully spare, O'Grady captures both Charlotte Brontë's spirit and character, and puts forth her supposition regarding the genesis of "Jane Eyre" with remarkable clarity and a sure sense of the dramatic, licenses notwithstanding. A superb, magical, wonderful work. ”
View all 9 recommendations

Character Information

6F/1M, ranging from late teens-mid-forties. Some doubling.

  • Charlotte Brontë (pronounced BRON-tee)
    20s.,
    British.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Monsieur Heger (pronounced Ay-ZHAY)
    30s.,
    Belgian.
    Teacher of Literature and Writing.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Male
  • Mrs. Gaskell
    40s.,
    British.
    A novelist.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Meta Gaskell (pronounced MEE-ta)
    19,
    British.
    Mrs. Gaskell's daughter.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Emily Brontë
    20s.,
    British.
    Charlotte's sister
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Madame Heger
    30s,
    Belgian.
    School directress. Heger's wife.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      30s, 40s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female
  • Woman
    Late teens/20s,
    Belgian
    Plays Belgian Maid, Servant, Pupil's Voice, Louise.
    Can be played by:
    • Age: 
      Teens, 20s
    • Race/Ethnicity: 
      Any race/ethnicity
    • Gender: 
      Female

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    Yellow Rose Productions (Henley Rose Award), Knoxville, TN
    ,
    2018
  • Reading
    ,
    AboutFace Ireland (NEWvember Festival Dublin), Dublin, Ireland
    ,
    2017
  • Reading
    ,
    Irish Repertory Theatre (NYC), New Works Series
    ,
    2016

Awards

Finalist
,
Lance Hewett Reading Series
,
Isle of Shoals Productions Inc.
,
2020
Winner
,
Rising Artists Playwright Award
,
2020
Selection
,
World Premiere Club
,
Applause Theater & Cinema Books
,
2020
Top 25 Plays, Pandora's Box New Works Festival
,
2019
Winner
,
(1st Place), Henley Rose Award
,
2018
Second Rounder
,
Austin Film Festival Playwriting Award
,
2018
Finalist
,
Talk Back Theatre
,
2018
Winner
,
NEWvember New Plays Festival Dublin
,
2017
Selection
,
New Works Series
,
Irish Repertory Theatre
,
2016
Semi-Finalist
,
Generations Award
,
Boulder Ensemble Theater Company