A NEW collaboration at The Watermill Theatre, encouraging newcomers to the industry, is starting with Brontë.

Director Nancy Meckler and theatre company Shared Experience have paired up for a production of Brontë, by Polly Teale, which offers a fascinating glimpse into the life, mind and works of the Brontë family.

The collaboration aims to be a “laboratory”, designed to encourage the work of theatre practitioners of all kinds who are starting out in the profession, with an extended rehearsal period for Meckler, who has directed in theatres across the world, to inject her experience into the process.

Constrained by their background and sex, three girls grow up in an isolated parsonage on the Yorkshire moors with an overbearing father and a brother unable to cope with the weight of his family’s expectations.

Against this backdrop, the Brontë sisters write novels and create powerful and passionate characters that have ensured their place in our literary history.

Heathcliffe, Cathy Earnshaw, Arthur Huntingdon and the first Mrs Rochester come to life on stage as the sisters’ story unfolds.

The play is runs from April 15 to May 22 and tickets, priced from £13 to £24, can be booked from the box office, on 01635 46044, or online at watermill.org.uk.