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Underdog: The Other Other Brontë

a new play by Sarah Gordon
a co-production with Northern Stage

Three women stand together, all facing to camera, the middle one, slightly higher than the others, seems to be trying to push the others, who each hold a pen, aside. All wear red shirts and skirts and the middle one has a large red bow tied at her collar.

Booking and details

Reader, I think you know who is most quotable.

Charlotte Brontë has a confession about how one sister became an idol, and the other became known as the third sister. You know the one. No, not that one. The other, other one… Anne.

This is not a story about well-behaved women.

This is a story about the power of words. It’s about sisters and sisterhood, love and jealousy, support and competition.

Directed by Northern Stage Artistic Director Natalie Ibu (The White Card), Sarah Gordon’s (The Edit) new play is an irreverent retelling of the life and legend of the Brontë sisters, and the story of the sibling power dynamics that shaped their uneven rise to fame.

Performed 27 March — 25 May 2024 in the Dorfman Theatre.

Video

Three women all dressed in red are standing in front of a camera making various facial expressions. The woman on the right stares into the camera looking surprised. The women on the left is looking away from the camera and the women in the middle is staring intensly into the camera. Behind them is a red backdrop.
Play Video

Trailer

Four actors on stage dressed in striped blue period costumes with top hats, engaged in a lively conversation, against a stark black backdrop.
Play Video

Clip

Gallery

Suitability

Please note: This production contains explicit language, and themes of grief/death and addiction. It contains depictions of attempted suicide that some may find distressing.
More advice and guidance

Supporters

This production is supported by Red Butterfly Foundation. This is an Edgerton New Plays Commission. New Play Commissions are also supported by the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation

Cast

Production team

Playwright

Sarah Gordon

Sarah Gordon

Director

Natalie Ibu

Natalie Ibu

Set and Costume Designer

Grace Smart

Grace Smart

Lighting Designer

Zoe Spurr

Zoe Spurr

Sound Designer and Additional Music

Alexandra Faye Braithwaite

Alexandra Faye Braithwaite

Movement Director

Ingrid Mackinnon

Ingrid Mackinnon

Fight and Intimacy Director

Haruka Kuroda

Haruka Kuroda

Casting Director

Naomi Downham

Naomi Downham

Dialect Coach

Charmian Hoare

Charmian Hoare

Company Voice Work

Shereen Ibrahim

Shereen Ibrahim

Associate Lighting Designer

Charlotte Burton

Charlotte Burton

Associate Movement Director

Ana Beatriz Meireles

Ana Beatriz Meireles

Staff Director

Natasha Haws

Natasha Haws

Ticket prices

Monday – Saturday evenings and all matinees:
£20, £30, £45, £50, £65

Previews 27 March – 2 April:
£20, £25, £35, £40, £50

For concessions and discounts, see Ways to save

Please note the 6.30pm start time on the following performances: Thu 18 Apr, Tue 23 Apr, Thu 9 May and Tue 21 May

Visit our Ticketing FAQs for information on how to book, ticket exchanges and more.

Prices may change according to demand

Assisted performances

The interpreter for the BSL performance will be Natasha Trantom.

Audio-described performances are preceded by a Touch Tour, which starts 90 minutes before the performance. If you would like to join a Touch Tour, please call the Access line at 020 7452 3961. The tours must be booked at least 24 hours in advance.

Audio-described notes are available. 

We have an allocation of tickets held for members of our Access scheme and if any of the assisted performances above are shown as “Sold Out”, tickets may still be available: Please log in to your account to view all available tickets, or call Box Office on 020 7452 3961

 

 

 

Photography (Rhiannon Clements, Gemma Whelan, Adele James) by Felicty McCabe.
Art direction and design by National Theatre Graphic Design Studio.