Craig Byrd: I haven’t seen every Kneehigh show and every Wise Children show, but I’ve seen a lot of them. This strikes me, sight unseen, as the first to use original songs in a significant way in any of the shows that Emma has done and using them so significantly as part of the narrative. How and why did the two of you feel that this was the show for that approach to be explored?

I.R.: First of all, the writing that Emma did when she first decided to do Wuthering Heights, she went and stayed up on the moors in Yorkshire in the area where Wuthering Heights was written. She wrote a lot of poetry. She read the book, but she also just wrote lots of of broad poetic ideas for things. (...)

C.B,: The show runs 2 hours and 50 minutes. The cast album that was released runs 23 minutes. How important was it for the two of you to figure out not just when music can be used, but when you absolutely do not? 

I.R.: Quite important really. But I think also in mine and Emma’s approach there’s never a wrong time for music. There’s never a wrong time for a song, I think, because I feel like it’s such a direct way of telling a story. You can condense, especially with something like Wuthering Heights, which has so much information, quite a lot of narrative through plonking a little song there. I don’t think we really came upon a moment where we thought this was definitely not working. We always just tried and most of the time it felt like it was serving a purpose. 

C.R.: I find it very interesting that that Emma chose to write poetry when Emily Brontë was known for her poetry. It’s a pretty bold move, isn’t it?

I.R.: Yeah, for sure. We used one of Emily Brontë’s poems and set to music, The Bluebell. [Emma] was keen to get that in there as a nod. I think what was cool about Emma’s approach was she was bringing in this idea of the bigger forces, the godly forces of the moors and of the love affair and of the afterlife. I think it just brought an entirely different flavor. It was sort of incomparable, really, to the work of Emily. 

C.R.: Did Emily Brontë’s novel inspire you on any level, or were you working strictly off of what Emma had decided to do?

I.R.:  I only read it once and parts of it I found hard going. I think some of the language and the dialect stuff is almost impenetrable. But I think what’s really inspiring about it is the setting and the feeling of the moors.

We went and stayed up there for a few days visiting the area where the Brontës were. Understanding more about the history of the area and their family’s connection to it was more inspiring for me than the novel itself. 

The turnout for December’s student-only matinee was even bigger. Wuthering Heights sold out, with more than 500 teens attending from Oakland, Hayward, Woodside and further. One student said that Wuthering Heights made them realize what theater is all about — to “hear stories together” and “heal our hearts.” (...)
Another Rep program for young people, Teen Night, also made a popular comeback. Run by members of Berkeley Rep’s Core Council (13 students from around the Bay Area), Teen Night includes a ticket to the show, a locally catered dinner, a teen-conducted interview with an artist from the show and other fun community-building activities, all for $10. More than 60 young people attended the Teen Night for Wuthering Heights in November.
Before the pandemic, nearly every show at Berkeley Rep attracted a large number of teens. But with stages dark for two years, many young people never had the opportunity to see a live performance until they came to Wuthering Heights. One teen exclaimed that it was their “first time ever” seeing a play, and that they were “definitely coming back.”

The director does not play it safe, instead opting for a portrait of the writer that is fantasy as much as reality. It is the wilder and speculative parts of the story that draw particular praise, with a tribute to the novelist that allows her to be both ethereal and human and inhabit the normal world. O’Connor has worked on this project for the past decade, obsessed with Brontë’s spirit of rebellion and creativity. 

Part history, part speculation, writer-director O’Connor’s depiction of Brontë’s triumphs and tragedies is rapturous, whether finding its heroine joining Branwell on a euphoric opium trip, dancing, rolling, stumbling through the verdant West Yorkshire moors, or slipping perilously into a clandestine love affair with her French tutor (Oliver Jackson-Cohen).
Just as in Wuthering Heights, which gave us one of literature’s most piercing stories of female subjection under an oppressive patriarchy, many of the obstacles that stood between Brontë and self-actualization were the result of a deeply rooted sexism. This magnificent film tells her story so that we celebrate Brontë’s too-brief life — and remember that her struggle is not yet over.

La irreverente visión de O'Connor encaja sorprendentemente bien en el universo de Brontë, lo que sumado a la interpretación de Emma Mackey hace que sea un relato vibrante. La actriz, a la que todos conocimos en Sex Education, hace un trabajo excepcional al acercarnos a la novelista. (Sara Heredia in Sensacine) (Translation)

Wuthering Heights? A long time since I read it for O-Level, which tells you how long a time ago that is. However, I believe it is about a young woman subjected to psychological abuse by a domineering partner. (Toby Neal)

Jane Eyre is a classic romance novel that has been widely popular and critically acclaimed since its publication in 1847. The book tells the story of Jane Eyre, a young woman who becomes a governess at the mysterious Thornfield Hall and falls in love with its owner, Mr. Rochester. However, their relationship is complicated by secrets from Rochester’s past and the interference of others.

Jane Eyre is a deeply emotional and compelling tale of love and self-discovery, with complex and fully realized characters and a richly detailed setting.

Ovaj, za Marka dosada najintimniji spot, režirala je Vedrana Vukojević koja je inspiraciju pronašla u bezvremenskom klasiku "Orkanski visovi" Emily Brontë: "Neposredno prije nego što sam dobila poziv od Vlahe za Markov spot sam završila s čitanjem "Orkanskih visova", spisateljice Emili Brontë, sad s velikom distancom vidim da su Marko i Anja na početku spota bili moja interpretacija djetinjstva Heathcliffa i Catharine, njihovog bijega u prirodu i ljubavi. Spot za pjesmu "Spokojan" je u svakom smislu poseban i za mene kao redateljicu značajan. (Translation)

Shakira es Emily Brontë en ‘Cumbres Borrascosas’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘El Conde de Montecristo’ y ‘El Padrino’ moviendo las caderas. Shakira es Neruda cuando escribió aquello de «es tan corto el amor y tan largo el olvido». (Roberto López) (Translation)

Ni la imaginación atormentada de Emily Brontë hubiera sido incapaz alcanzar el dramatismo que rodea a la Corona británica , desde tiempos de Lady Di. Esta familia reduce el desgarrado sentimentalismo de «Cumbres borrascosas» a las dimensiones que tiene el mero lloriqueo infantil. (Javier Ors in La Razón) (Translation)

Séllei rámutatott arra is, hogy a következő időszakban a kritikusok egyenesen óva intették a női szerzőket attól, hogy az írást szakmájukká tegyék – 1837-ben Robert Southey Charlotte Brontëhoz írt levelében részletesen kifejti, hogy egy nőnek miért nem lenne célszerű írnia, milyen „kockázatokkal” és „veszélyekkel” járna, ha mégis megteszi és tevékenysége több lesz annál, mint puszta úri elfoglaltság. A Jane Eyre azonban attól vált épp az angol irodalom klasszikusává, hogy egy olyan korban és pillanatban születik, amikor szükség van rá, illetve felszámolja az egysíkú, abszolútumokban gondolkodó jellemeket. (...)

 A kísértetiesség, a tabuk döntögetése és a kimondhatatlan kimondására tett kísérletek nem csupán a tiszta műfajú regényekben érhetők tetten, hanem több más, híressé vált alkotásban is megjelennek, mint például Jane Austen vagy a Brontë-nővérek regényeiben.(Sánta Miriám) (Translation)

Emily Brontë

Representante de lo que se conocería como lo “nuevo gótico”. Emily transportaría el estilo gótico a la ruralidad inglesa en Cumbres Borrascosas. La creación de sus personajes icónicos como Heathcliff, el típico héroe byroniano peligroso y malo; y el ambiente, hostil y tenso, son cualidades fundamentales de lo nuevo gótico. (Aimara Villanueva) (Translation)

Esquire (Spain) lists "short and nice" love poems, including  Love and Friendship by Emily Brontë. Joanna Gray describes as "superb", Claire Harman's biography of Charlotte Brontë in The Conservative Woman. Ok Diario (Spain) lists films about women writers to watch after watching Emily. The Inquisitive Individualist publishes the essay "Viewpoint Epistemology and Jane Eyre".