Bronte

Act One

As the audience enters, the actors are already on the stage, wearing modern clothes. As they begin to speak, they change into period costume. The three actors playing Emily, Anne, and Charlotte muse on the lives of the Bronte sisters, wondering how differently their lives would have turned out to be if they had married and turned away from literature. After a beat, they are transformed into the sisters. Together, they reflect on their close bond and how losing their mother when they were young has allowed them a certain amount of individual freedom. They have not been encouraged into suitable marriages, like their contemporaries. Anne, Emily, and Charlotte are joined by their father, who reflects on his own literary contribution.

Turning to the audience, the sisters define their own lasting literary influence. Charlotte is the best known and posthumously fascinating of them all, Anne feels she is only interesting as a background influence upon her sisters, while Emily