Brontë: The World Without

By Jordi Mand

What happens when a passion is turned into a means to survive?

Sisters Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë have always enjoyed writing and storytelling, but so far, it’s been for their own personal enjoyment. Now that their father is sick and their brother is an alcoholic, they have to be the ones to support the family. They’d rather focus on their careers than settling down with suitors anyway, so writing is what could save them. But is it also what could tear them apart? Jealousy, rivalry, and the strong need for self-expression threaten not only their livelihoods and relationships but also their confidence in creativity and what could be their legacy.

Told over five days in the span of three years, the fascinating story of the Brontë sisters’ pioneering literary careers unfolds to show what it was like to be an ambitious woman in the 1800s, and how similar it looks to the struggles women still face today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press
• Release date: Aug 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9780369101044

Jordi Mand

Jordi Mand is a Toronto-based playwright who writes for theatre, TV, and film. As a playwright, her work has been produced around the world, published, and translated into multiple languages. Some of her plays include Between the Sheets, Caught, and Brontë: The World Without. For TV, she was a writer on the hit CTV Canadian crime drama, Cardinal. She is a graduate of the CFC’s Bell Media Prime Time TV Program and NTS's Acting program. Her adaptation of Little Women will premiere in June 2022 at the Stratford Festival. She has plays in development with the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company and the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre. She is also the writer for the upcoming film adaptation of The Honey Farm and is developing a TV series with Alibi Entertainment.

Book preview

Prelude

A room in an older house. The house sits on top of a hill with a graveyard at the foot of the property.

The room itself has two large windows without curtains. There is a bookshelf filled with books. On one wall is a working fireplace, tables with various trinkets on it, and a framed landscape painting. Against another wall is a sofa with a cushion. There is also a rocking chair. In the middle of the room is a table with chairs around it. On the table are three lit candles, three sewing boxes, and three writing desks.

The room appears to be in order but should feel lived in. The space functions as a dining room, living room, and drawing room within the house.

The sound of a clock tolls throughout the house.

Movement 1

Evening.

Charlotte, twenty-nine, sits at the table. She sews, holding her work close to her face. Emily, twenty-seven, sits on the sofa, staring into the night. Anne, twenty-five, sits in the rocking chair, sewing quickly. All three women are dressed for bed.

Emily puts her sewing down, grabs a candle, then leaves the room without acknowledging the other two.

Anne puts her needle into her sewing box. She gathers Emily’s sewing and tries to collect Charlotte’s sewing, but Charlotte resists.

Charlotte: I can put it away myself.

Anne: We’ve been keeping the sewing upstairs.

Charlotte: Why not keep it in the basket?

Anne: I’ve been working on some larger pieces. She doesn’t like it when I leave it on the floor.

Charlotte: That’s why we keep it in the —

Charlotte looks around the room.

Where is the basket?

Anne: Upstairs. It’s been easier to just —

Charlotte: Fine. Fine. Do what you like.

Charlotte hands Anne her sewing. Anne heads for the door. As she does, she stubs her