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Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations

15 Minute Drama: Charlotte Bronte - Shirley

Lesley Sharp

Jemima Rooper

Joanne Froggatt

Joseph Kloska

Joel MacCormack

Christine Kavanagh

Sean Murray

Priyanga Burford

David Seddon

Tracey Neale

Rachel Joyce

Charlotte Bronte

15 Minute Drama: Charlotte Bronte - Shirley: Episode 1: Cousins

Shirley

Episode 1

Episode 1: Cousins

Charlotte Bronte - Shirley

Cousins

BBC Radio 4 - 15 Minute Drama, Charlotte Bronte - Shirley, Cousins

Charlotte Bronte's tale of romantic entanglements set against turbulent times in Yorkshire

4 Extra Debut. 1811, Yorkshire. 'Something unromantic as a Monday morning.' So begins Charlotte Bronte's passionate tale. Stars Lesley Sharp.

Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, dramatises Charlotte Bronte's tale of romantic entanglements and turbulent times in the Yorkshire of 1811.

"Something unromantic as a Monday morning." And so begins this passionate love story ... 

Directed by Tracey Neale


Set against a Yorkshire industrial background, Charlotte Bronte's powerful second novel is also an impassioned plea for social equality - for workers and women alike. Set during the time of the Luddite unrest, two strands weave together. One, the struggles of workers against mill owners, the other involving the romantic entanglements of the two heroines - Shirley Keelder and Caroline Helstone. It is the friendship of these two women, and the contrast between their situations, that lies at the heart of the piece. Many believe the character of Shirley was written for, and about, Charlotte's sister, Emily, who was dying as Charlotte wrote the novel.

Like The Professor, Villette and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, produced by the same team, this is an earthy, vivid and poignant re-telling of one of the lesser-known Bronte classics. The scenes of dangerous social unrest and conflict and love are as relevant today as when the novel was published. It's a story of friendship and love, longing and loss. A rollicking good story with plenty of cliffhangers to keep the listener hooked to the very end.

The cast includes Lesley Sharp (Scott and Bailey) Jemima Rooper (Atlantis) and Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey)

The dramatist Rachel Joyce has written over twenty original afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4 and major adaptations for the Classic Serial and Fifteen Minute Drama, as well as a TV period drama for BBC 2. In 2007 she won the Tinniswood Award for Best Radio Play.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was her first novel. It began its life as a Radio 4 play. It was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2012 and longlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize. Her second novel, Perfect, was published last year. She is currently writing a novella called The Love-Song of Queenie Hennessy which will be published in the Autumn. Rachel is also adapting the novella as a 5-part Fifteen Minute Drama to be broadcast at the same time as publication. Queenie is a character from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Rachel Joyce dramatises Charlotte Bronte's passionate tale of love, longing and loss set against a backdrop of turbulence and unrest in the Yorkshire of 1811

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Charlotte Bronte - Shirley

Episode 1: Cousins

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