Underdog: The Other Other Brontë
a new play by Sarah Gordon
a co-production with Northern Stage
![Underdog-National-Theatre-Northern-Stage-2000x1000-1b Three women stand together, all facing to camera, the middle one, slightly higher than the others, seems to be trying to push the others, who each hold a pen, aside. All wear red shirts and skirts and the middle one has a large red bow tied at her collar.](https://images.nationaltheatre.org.uk/uploads/2023/10/Underdog-National-Theatre-Northern-Stage-2000x2000-1.jpg?resize=900%2C900&gravity)
Booking and details
Reader, I think you know who is most quotable.
Charlotte Brontë has a confession about how one sister became an idol, and the other became known as the third sister. You know the one. No, not that one. The other, other one… Anne.
This is not a story about well-behaved women.
This is a story about the power of words. It’s about sisters and sisterhood, love and jealousy, support and competition.
Directed by Northern Stage Artistic Director Natalie Ibu (The White Card), Sarah Gordon’s (The Edit) new play is an irreverent retelling of the life and legend of the Brontë sisters, and the story of the sibling power dynamics that shaped their uneven rise to fame.
Video
Suitability
Please note: This production contains explicit language, and themes of grief/death and addiction. It contains depictions of attempted suicide that some may find distressing.
More advice and guidance
Supporters
This production is supported by Red Butterfly Foundation. This is an Edgerton New Plays Commission. New Play Commissions are also supported by the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation
Cast
![](https://images.nationaltheatre.org.uk/uploads/2023/12/Nick-Blakeley-headshot-photo-Harry-Livingstone.jpg?fit=50%2C50)
Nick Blakeley
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage), Damned by Despair, 13 and A Woman Killed with Kindness
![](https://images.nationaltheatre.org.uk/uploads/2023/10/Rhiannon-Clements-headshot.jpg?fit=50%2C50)
Rhiannon Clements
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
![](https://images.nationaltheatre.org.uk/uploads/2023/12/Adam-Donaldson-headshot-photo-Sean-Jobes.jpg?fit=50%2C50)
Adam Donaldson
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
![](https://images.nationaltheatre.org.uk/uploads/2023/10/ADELE-JAMES-headshot.jpg?fit=50%2C50)
Adele James
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
![](https://images.nationaltheatre.org.uk/uploads/2023/12/KwakuMills-headshot-photo-YellowBellyPhoto.jpg?fit=50%2C50)
Kwaku Mills
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage) and Perspective
![](https://images.nationaltheatre.org.uk/uploads/2023/12/Julian-Moore-Cook-headshot-photo-Hunch-Creatives.jpg?fit=50%2C50)
Julian Moore-Cook
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage) and Translations
![](https://images.nationaltheatre.org.uk/uploads/2023/12/James-Phoon-headshot-438x600-photo-YellowBellyPhoto.jpg?fit=50%2C50)
James Phoon
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
![](https://images.nationaltheatre.org.uk/uploads/2023/10/GEMMA-WHELAN-headshot.jpg?fit=50%2C50)
Gemma Whelan
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage) and One Man, Two Guvnors (also Theatre Royal Haymarket)
Production team
Playwright
Sarah Gordon
Sarah Gordon
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
Director
Natalie Ibu
Natalie Ibu
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
Set and Costume Designer
Grace Smart
Grace Smart
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
Lighting Designer
Zoe Spurr
Zoe Spurr
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
Sound Designer and Additional Music
Alexandra Faye Braithwaite
Alexandra Faye Braithwaite
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
Movement Director
Ingrid Mackinnon
Ingrid Mackinnon
For the National Theatre: as movement director, credits include Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage); as intimacy director, work includes The House of Bernarda Alba, The Effect (also The Shed, New York) and Phaedra
Fight and Intimacy Director
Haruka Kuroda
Haruka Kuroda
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
Casting Director
Naomi Downham
Naomi Downham
For the National Theatre, as casting director: The Grapes of Wrath, Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage), The House of Bernarda Alba, The Crucible (also West End), The Ocean at the End of the Lane (UK tour), Hamlet (school tour) and Jekyll & Hyde (school tour)
Dialect Coach
Charmian Hoare
Charmian Hoare
Recent National Theatre includes: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also with Northern Stage), Till the Stars Come Down, The Motive and the Cue, The Lehman Trilogy (also West End), Jack Absolute Flies Again, Our Generation (also at Chichester)
Company Voice Work
Shereen Ibrahim
Shereen Ibrahim
For the National Theatre: company voice work includes The Grapes of Wrath, Underdog: The Other Other Brontë, Dear Octopus, Dear England, Dixon and Daughters, The Odyssey, Hamlet, The Crucible, Jack Absolute Flies Again and The Father and the Assassin (also dialect work); dialect work for Standing at the Sky’s Edge, All of Us and Our Generation; and acting work in The Black Album and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other
Associate Lighting Designer
Charlotte Burton
Charlotte Burton
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
Associate Movement Director
Ana Beatriz Meireles
Ana Beatriz Meireles
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
Staff Director
Natasha Haws
Natasha Haws
For the National Theatre: Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage)
Ticket prices
Monday – Saturday evenings and all matinees:
£20, £30, £45, £50, £65
Previews 27 March – 2 April:
£20, £25, £35, £40, £50
For concessions and discounts, see Ways to save
Please note the 6.30pm start time on the following performances: Thu 18 Apr, Tue 23 Apr, Thu 9 May and Tue 21 May
Visit our Ticketing FAQs for information on how to book, ticket exchanges and more.
Prices may change according to demand
What's on guide
Download a pdf of the latest guide (2MB)
Download a large print pdf version of the latest guide (4MB), with most images removed.
Assisted performances
No Captioned performances available.
No BSL Interpreted performances available.
No Audio described performances available.
No Chilled performance available.
No Dementia-friendly performances available.
No Relaxed performance available.
The interpreter for the BSL performance will be Natasha Trantom.
Audio-described performances are preceded by a Touch Tour, which starts 90 minutes before the performance. If you would like to join a Touch Tour, please call the Access line at 020 7452 3961. The tours must be booked at least 24 hours in advance.
Audio-described notes are available.
We have an allocation of tickets held for members of our Access scheme and if any of the assisted performances above are shown as “Sold Out”, tickets may still be available: Please log in to your account to view all available tickets, or call Box Office on 020 7452 3961
Photography (Rhiannon Clements, Gemma Whelan, Adele James) by Felicty McCabe.
Art direction and design by National Theatre Graphic Design Studio.