AUDITIONS: UNDERDOG: The Other, Other Brontë

By Sarah Gordon

PERFORMANCES 28th July – 1st August 2026 at the Old Court Theatre.

Everyone thinks they know the Brontë Sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne … So why do we know less about Anne? What was it like being the youngest Brontë? How did the sisters react to becoming best-selling novelists?

How long can they pretend to be men and protect their identities? Can they keep their new-found fame from their reverend father and drunken brother? Will the reviewers keep criticising their work? And will Charlotte make it into literary society and rub shoulders with the elite?

A story of sisterhood, sibling rivalry, and the role of women in Victorian society, Sarah Gordon’s play is a funny and irreverent look at the lives of the Brontë Sisters. (Contains some strong language.)

KEY AUDITION DATES (at the Old Court Theatre, and open to all)
Read-through Sunday 12th April at 1.00.
Auditions Tuesday 14th & Thursday 16th April, 7.45 upstairs in the bar.
Co-Directed by Mark Preston and Clare Woodward.
For any further information please contact Mark at m.preston67@yahoo.co.uk or 07885501533, or Clare at clarewoodward68@gmail.com or 07817064319.

KEY PRODUCTION DATES FOR CAST AND CREW
Rehearsals from May to July, Mondays & Wednesdays 7.45-10, and Sundays 10-1.
First official rehearsal at the theatre is 25th May, but we will have a few rehearsals and a photo-shoot before that.
Technical rehearsal (all day) Sunday 26th July
Dress rehearsal (evening) Monday 27th July
Full Run Tuesday 28th July to Saturday 1st August (no matinees)
Get-out Sunday 2nd August

This amateur production of “Underdog: The Other Other Brontë” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk

CHARACTER NOTES
Anne Brontë
Youngest of the three sisters, kind, easy going, religious, resilient with hidden strengths.

Charlotte Brontë
Eldest sister, ambitious, studious, short-sighted, with literary aspirations, protective but sometimes critical of her siblings.

Emily Brontë
Middle sister, fiercely independent, values her privacy, nature loving, closest to Anne.
*We will ideally be looking for Yorkshire accents for all the Bronte siblings, with playing ages of late 20s.
Other Characters – an ensemble of 5 people. male or female, of any ages, playing multiple smaller parts, including these key ones :

Branwell Brontë
Dissolute brother, aspiring poet and artist, often drunk, under pressure to be family breadwinner.
Reverend Patrick Brontë

Elderly C of E clergyman, father of the four Bronte siblings, conscientious, liberal-minded, eccentric. Irish accent.

George Smith
Charlotte Brontës young publisher in London, privileged, charming, successful.

Elizabeth Gaskell
Well-known author from Manchester, friend of Charlotte’s, chatty and informative, and first biographer of the Brontës.

P.S. Some or all of the above may be true.

• Or as close as we can get.

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Standard Tickets are £15.09, Concessions* £12.94 including booking fee. Available online via our Ticketsource page or by calling Ticketsource on 0333 666 3366.

Please note that our ticket prices remain the same, but new legislation requires the booking fee to be included in the listed price.

Tickets are also available on the door at the Old Court Theatre from 30 minutes prior to the performance (cash and card payments accepted.)

*Concessions apply to under 18s and over 65s, (Tues – Thurs only) unemployed and students with a valid student ID.

For queries regarding your booking, or to make make exchanges, please email our Booking Manager on: bookings@ctw.org.uk

For directions, parking and other information about your visit to the Old Court, visit our Theatre Info page.