CHARLOTTE'S LETTERS

by Jennifer O'Grady

2024 Hudson Valley Theatre Festival Selection / 1st Place Henley Rose Award / Rising Artists Playwriting Award / O'Neill Semifinalist / AWP's Writer2Writer Award / Irish Rep's New Works Readings Series Selection / NEWvember Festival Dublin Selection / Top 25 Plays, Panndora's Box / BETC Generations Shortlist / BEST WOMEN'S STAGE MONOLOGUES 2022 / 2025 Current Quarterfinalist, ScreenCraft Stage Play...

2024 Hudson Valley Theatre Festival Selection / 1st Place Henley Rose Award / Rising Artists Playwriting Award / O'Neill Semifinalist / AWP's Writer2Writer Award / Irish Rep's New Works Readings Series Selection / NEWvember Festival Dublin Selection / Top 25 Plays, Panndora's Box / BETC Generations Shortlist / BEST WOMEN'S STAGE MONOLOGUES 2022 / 2025 Current Quarterfinalist, ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition and other awards

(Full length) A fresh new take on the Brontëw, CHARLOTTE'S LETTERS intertwines novelist Charlotte Brontë's two years as an unpublished woman at a Belgian school--where she became close to her married tutor/employer, Monsieur Heger--with her friend and biographer Mrs. Gaskell's struggle to salvage Charlotte's posthumous reputation and feminist novels. In Victorian England, the books of recently deceased author Charlotte Brontë are now widely banned for being too passionate. Gaskell intends to prove that Charlotte was innocent and her reclusive life, blameless, but when an alarming letter arrives from Brussels, Gaskell feels forced to investigate just how much of Charlotte's novels--including the bestselling but scandalous JANE EYRE--was based on her own life. A vividly theatrical play about love, friendship, and the making--and unmaking--of art and identity.

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CHARLOTTE'S LETTERS

Recommended by

  • Aly Kantor: CHARLOTTE'S LETTERS by Jennifer O'Grady
    “

    Art imitates life, and in this compelling historical drama, we watch Charlotte Brontë's biographer grapple with that truth in her attempt to paint the author as palatable. This play feels incredibly intimate and atmospheric - clearly well-researched but never didactic. The characters are well-drawn and delightfully messy in all their relatable humanity. The language is poetic, and I felt drawn to the themes of emotion and shame, which permeate the piece until its tender, bittersweet conclusion!

    Art imitates life, and in this compelling historical drama, we watch Charlotte Brontë's biographer grapple with that truth in her attempt to paint the author as palatable. This play feels incredibly intimate and atmospheric - clearly well-researched but never didactic. The characters are well-drawn and delightfully messy in all their relatable humanity. The language is poetic, and I felt drawn to the themes of emotion and shame, which permeate the piece until its tender, bittersweet conclusion!

    ”
  • Justin Guidroz: CHARLOTTE'S LETTERS by Jennifer O'Grady
    “

    This play has been on my mind for almost five years now. Thought-provoking, expertly written, and thoroughly researched, O'Grady's exploration of genius in the midst of familial trappings is spellbinding. I will champion this play forever.

    This play has been on my mind for almost five years now. Thought-provoking, expertly written, and thoroughly researched, O'Grady's exploration of genius in the midst of familial trappings is spellbinding. I will champion this play forever.

    ”
  • Christopher Soucy: CHARLOTTE'S LETTERS by Jennifer O'Grady
    “

    Jennifer O’Grady delivers a beautifully rendered glimpse into the lives of extraordinary people. I love imagining the day to day lives of famous influential figures, but in this piece, Jennifer gives us a world so defined that imagination is not necessary. I felt like a ghost watching from the corners of the Brontë sisters’ lives. “All feelings are good” struck me as I realized how O’Grady conducts the full orchestra of my emotions in a perfect symphony.

    Jennifer O’Grady delivers a beautifully rendered glimpse into the lives of extraordinary people. I love imagining the day to day lives of famous influential figures, but in this piece, Jennifer gives us a world so defined that imagination is not necessary. I felt like a ghost watching from the corners of the Brontë sisters’ lives. “All feelings are good” struck me as I realized how O’Grady conducts the full orchestra of my emotions in a perfect symphony.

    ”
View all 19 recommendations

Character Information

6W/1M. Some doubling.
  • Charlotte Brontë
    Mid-20s.
    British
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Monsieur Heger
    Professor of literature.
    Early 30s.
    Belgian.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Mrs. Gaskell
    A novelist.
    46
    British
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Meta Gaskell (pronounced MEE-ta)
    Mrs. Gaskell's daughter.
    19
    British
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Emily Brontë
    Charlotte's sister
    Early-mid 20s.
    British
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Madame Heger
    School directress and Heger's wife.
    Late 30s
    Belgian.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      30s,
      40s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Woman
    Plays Belgian Maid, Servant, Pupil's Voice, Louise.
    Late teens/early 20s
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens,
      20s
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female

Development History

  • Reading, Hudson Valley Theatre Festival, 2024
  • Reading, Oak Grove Theater, 2024
  • Reading, Attic Salt Theatre (Rising Artists Award), 2021
  • Reading, Yellow Rose Productions (Henley Rose Award), 2018
  • Reading, AboutFace Ireland/NEWvember Festival Dublin, 2017
  • Reading, Irish Repertory Theatre, New Works Reading Series, 2016

Awards

  • Current Quarterfinalist, 2025 ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition
    2024
  • Selection, Hudson Valley Theatre Festival
    New Deal Creative Arts Center
    2024
  • Finalist, Summer Reading Series
    Valley Players
    2024
  • Selection, Applause Books World Premiere Club
    Applause Theater & Cinema Books
  • Publication, The Best Women's Stage Monologues 2022
    Smith and Kraus
    Selection
    2022
  • Shortlist
    BETC Generations Award
    2015
  • Winner, Writer2Writer Award
    AWP
    Winner
    2018
  • Finalist, Talk Back Theatre
    Finalist
    2018
  • Winner, Rising Artist Playwriting Award
    Attic Salt Theater
    Winner
    2020
  • Finalist, Lance Hewett Reading Series
    Isle of Shoals Productions
    Finalist
    2020
  • Top 25 Plays, Panndora's Box New Works Festival
    Panndora Productions
    2019
  • Second Rounder
    Austin Film Festival Playwriting Award
    2018
  • 1st Place Winner, Henley Rose Playwrights Award for Women
    Winner
    2018
  • Selection, NEWvember New Plays Festival Dublin
    AboutFace Ireland
    Selection
    2017
  • Selection, New Works Reading Series
    Irish Repertory Theatre (NY)
    Selection
    2016