Does an author's life belong on stage?  Dramatists should
remember that writers can produce gripping page-turners yet
still lead a dull existence.  When it comes to putting a famous
writer's life on stage, there is always a tough decision to be
made: whether to aim to for painstaking authenticity or play
fast and loose with the facts. On the one hand, justice must be
done to the source; on the other, there's the audience's
concentration span to consider.  My cases in point are two
recent Shared Experience productions, Bronte and After Mrs
Rochester. Focusing on all three sisters (Anne, Emily and
Charlotte), Bronte slowly reconstructs their history from
childhood to death, carefully composing scene after scene of the
family in their little house in West Yorkshire. "Interminable"
was the word used to describe it by the couple sat next to me,
who left after the first half. I think this was rather harsh,
but the fact remains that the most fascinating thing about the
Bronte sisters is surely that they were able to