Review of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

To get straight to the point, this play was well performed and I have to confess that this was the first play I've seen without getting too bored during the middle of it. On the night of October 15th 2015, our Creative Writing class got to go see Sarah Rodgers's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall originally written by Anne Brontë. This play takes place in the 19th century and is written to be a drama that incorporates ideas of feminism into the production. 

The story takes place in a quaint village where all the villagers know each other inside out. Helen Graham is a widowed mother who takes her son to move to the village and restart life there. Gilbert Markham (the protagonist) falls in love with Helen and throughout the play continues to ask Helen her hand in marriage, except Helen refuses and doesn't explain to Gilbert why she won't accept. Eventually, Helen gives Gilbert her diary and he is able to recollect Helen's past and understand why she has not accepted his hand. The story ends with Gilbert waiting over 2 years for Helen and they come together and reunite. 

Overall I'm quite impressed with Sarah Rodger's rendition of the novel, and the play was well executed with good timing; long enough to fully develop the plot line yet short enough where I don't fall asleep half-way. I thought that the intermission was very well timed and kept us interested for more as we came back into the theatre during the second half. The seats for the audience were a bit too cramped but weren't too bothersome. I think that all the actors and actresses performed excellently and the kid was just adorable. The story line was very strong and I liked Rodger's incorporation of Helen's individuality and her resistance to cultural norms and views to women and children. My friends and I had a good time watching the play, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. That play was a $5 well spent in my opinion.