Charlotte Brontes Villette
Playwright Sara Gmitter (In the Garden: A Darwinian Love Story) returns to Chicago's Tony-winning Lookingglass Theatre for the world premiere of her adaptation of Charlotte Bront\xeb's novel Villette \u2013 and returns to the Podcast to discuss how the production came to be and why the novel isn't as famous as Bront\xeb's other work, Jane Eyre. Sara talks about the challenge of channeling Bront\xeb\u2019s voice (in both language and staging); who to credit (or blame) for this adaptation; the joy of working with characters that demand to be brought to life; gratitude to directors and designers who help visualize the story; how the relationship between the protagonist and audience mirrors the one between an author and reader; the undeniable fact that Charlotte Bront\xeb is funny; and the unassailable right of an unreliable narrator to keep some things to herself. (Length 20:35) (PICTURED: Debo Balogun, Mi Kang, Ronald Rom\xe1n-Melendez in the Lookingglass Theatre production of Villette, written by Sara Gmitter, directed by Tracy Walsh. Photo by Sandro Miller.)