Eastbourne and Hastings dates for Unquiet Slumbers: The Haunting of Emily Brontë

Based on Wuthering Heights and Emily’s own story, the 60-minute two-hander is by award-winning playwright Sam Chittenden and directed by Katie Turner-Halliday.

Following excellent reviews in Brighton and Haworth, West Yorkshire, Heifer Productions and Different Theatre are bringing Unquiet Slumbers: The Haunting of Emily Brontë to East Sussex with dates including: Grove Theatre, Eastbourne, April 14, 7.30pm; Stables Theatre, Hastings, April 15 and 16, 7.30pm; and Litlington Village Hall, Clapham Lane, BN26 5RQ, April 17, 2.30pm.

Sam explains: “Unquiet Slumbers is a psychological thriller in which Cathy Earnshaw meets her maker in the form of Emily Brontë, author of Wuthering Heights. Based on the book and on Emily’s own story, it presents a moor-bound exploration of identity, sexuality and our obsession with death, ghosts and romantic heroes.

“Unquiet Slumbers also explores the psychological power play between creator and created. Cathy and Emily may initially be at odds but they are ultimately allies in a struggle to survive with their own identities intact. With its allusion to the prejudice experienced by Heathcliff, it identifies issues of race as well as gender and mental health.

“Unquiet Slumbers presents a story that may be familiar, but will challenge the romanticised reading of it that often dominates, particularly in movie versions.”

An intimate two-hander, it was written by Sam of Different Theatre whose previous productions have won Best New Play at Brighton Fringe (Clean, 2019) and been nominated for The Infallibles award in Edinburgh (Sary, 2019).

It has been directed by Katie Turner-Halliday whose previous productions have included Thames Tales, at the Royal Albert Hall, Visions of Bradford at Kala Sangam and most recently, A Weaver’s Thread, at The Mill TV.

They have enjoyed working with trainee assistant director Hassan Mahmood, who after appearing in Ackley Bridge has gone on to study at York St John’s and is now pursuing a career in live theatre.

Heifer Productions specialises in exploring our shared cultural heritage through storytelling and theatre. Their work seeks to tell the stories that are forgotten or overlooked, but which make us who we are.

Different Theatre create intimate, female-centric stories with a twist, says Katie Turner-Halliday: “This play is a joy to work on and we hope will be a joy to watch.

“It has provoked fascinating discussions in the rehearsal room, not only about who Emily Brontë was, but about the difficulty of carving out one’s identity when under pressure from the outside world. The cast and crew are all passionate about this unique reimagining of two of Yorkshire’s most memorable people (one real, one imagined), and look

forward to discussing the ideas more with you at the bar after the show.”

Cathy Earnshaw: Juliet Daalder; Emily Brontë: Katie Turner-Halliday

Tickets from the venues: Eastbourne –https://www.groveeastbourne.com/unquiet-slumbers

Hastings – http://stablestheatre.co.uk/unquiet-slumbers-thehaunting-of-emily-bronte/

Litlington – http://tinyurl.com/unquiet17/

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