‘Children of an Idol Moon’ looks at mysterious Brontes

Friday, Nov. 8, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Cheryldee Huddleston wrote the play, set in a claustrophobic parsonage against the backdrop of the mysterious Yorkshire moors.

"Children of an Idol Moon" explores the painful and often solitary road of two sibling artists, Emily and Branwell Bronte, and the often bizarre things that occurred in their lives, which they translated into beauty on the written page.

Huddleston, who is in the theater department's Master of Fine Arts program, began nurturing the idea of writing about the Brontes after she came across a biography of the family several years ago. She had long been fascinated with Emily, whose only published novel, "Wuthering Heights," has been a favorite of readers for more than a century.

In her research, she became intrigued by Branwell, the only son and heir apparent of the Bronte family. Huddleston speculates that the mystery surrounding the Brontes' dark and tragic household fueled Emily's enigmatic writing and enduring mystique.

"A scholarly work hinted that Heathcliff was patterned after Branwell," said Huddleston, "and that he was the subject of the love interest in some of Emily's poetry." This could explain how the classically agoraphobic Emily could write a novel of such passion.

Branwell was the spoiled center of attention in the motherless household ruled by a distant and intimidating father. The Bronte sisters pinned all their hopes on the character and genius of Branwell, who became nothing as everything slipped through his fingers. He died an opium addict, virtually forgotten by the world, while Emily, Charlotte and Anne were published.

These timid, socially naive women, living in an abusive atmosphere, found a way to express their spirit and creativity so that they became immortal through books that were staged and filmed.

Guest director Barbara Brennan-Deibert believes the playwright has brought the Brontes' lives to the stage and has given us "characters that are larger than life, seen as they would have liked to have been seen."

Performances of "Children of an Idol Moon" are at 8 p.m. Nov. 14-16 and 20-23. Matinees are at 2 p.m. Nov. 17 and 24. Tickets are $5. Call 895-3801.