"We are Brontë" by Publick Transport- A review

(photo courtesy of Loz Samuels, DOCA)

Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts (a.k.a. DOCA) have in recent times brought to the Devizes International Street Festival the wackier end of  performance theatre - My!Laika's  "Popcorn Machine" in 2018 and Los Galindros' "Udul" this year, 2019, spring to mind. Then as the bank holiday festival 2019 closed there was one final sting in the tail for us all...  the quite bizarre "We are Brontë" by Publick Transport.

It’s not the easiest of tasks to review this show as its anarchic and surreal contents somewhat defy any lineal description. This is not a show in the sense of a beginning or an end - it's more (as indeed its male protagonist Angus Barr explains) an “amalgam” of Brontë orientated inspirations. Is it a biography?  Is it a summary of best known novels? Is it the actors themselves ? In truth it is all of these things but fourth wall breaking aside it’s not clear always which if these areas one is witnessing at any one time...  which is its magic!

Bonkers. Brilliant. Confusing. Hilarious. Surreal. Cringe-worthy (more of that later). Fantastic. All of these things and more.  Angus Barr and Sarah Corbett provided an hour's supremely physical comedy interspersed with very occasional sharp one liners taking us from the Brontës harsh and tragic lives in West Yorkshire in the first half of the 19th century, through their writings and into the 1970’s popcharts and also up to the modern day. And all hilariously done with perfect comedic timing.

Not that you'd need to know much about the Brontës to enjoy the show - and we learnt how many people do actually know anything at all, some of those revelations being somewhat startling. If you do know anything it may not help as we were assured on more than one occasion by the pair of performers that allusion and the artistic thread must be interpreted.  There was a moon - I think - and lots of string, a deconstructed door,  smoke, cling film, a picture frame, some stair climbing enacted on a totally flat stage...  and lots of other stuff I couldn’t fathom that even a vigorous attempt at googling hasn’t entirely unravelled for me.

The stage craft was sublime, and the continual breaking of the fourth wall in that cringe-worthy manner alluded to previously superbly utilised. The Q&A session wasn't everybody's cup of tea but fitted the show perfectly. We vividly learned and witnessed the realities of tuberculosis. Then there was beautifully revealed artwork to close the show. Until the show really ended ...  take a bow those pair of lonely and isolated chairs.

The notoriously challenging acoustics of the venue, St. Mary's, as ever played their part at times. Despite that minor and difficult-to-control issue overall the show was more than a resounding success. Full marks to Publick Transport. Full marks to DOCA. And full marks to the Brontës...  because without them, there would be no show.



(c) Ian Diddams 2019