Maxine Linehan to Play Jane Eyre Author in Off-Broadway's Bronte: A Portrait of Charlotte

Maxine Linehan will make her off-Broadway debut as Jane Eyre author Charlotte Bronte in the Alloy Theatre Company’s production of Bronte: A Portrait of Charlotte. Written by William Luce, the solo play first premiered in 1983 under the title Currer Bell, Esquire and starred five-time Tony winner Julie Harris as Bronte. The off-Broadway revival, directed by Timothy Douglas, begins July 12 at the Actor’s Temple, with an official opening set for August 1.

Bronte: A Portrait of Charlotte is based on letters written between Charlotte and her childhood friend and confident, Ellen Nussey. The play takes place over the course of a single day, in which Charlotte arrives home at Haworth, after burying her beloved sister Anne in Scarborough. She is faced with the daunting possibility that love might never find her, that she will never find time to write again and that she will remain a prisoner caring for her aging father in the bleak parsonage at Haworth. 

The production will feature set deisgn by Robin Vest, costume design by Camille Assaf, lighting design by Christopher Studley and sound design by David Margolin Lawson.

Bronte: A Portrait of Charlotte marks the Alloy Theater Company’s first official off-Broadway production. The production enjoyed a limited engagement at Theater 511 in May 2012. Linehan, a co-founder of the theater company, is an Irish-born actress who appeared in the national tour of Lincoln Center’s South Pacific.