You on the Moors Now

by Jaclyn Backhaus

Four literary heroines of the nineteenth century set conventionalism ablaze when they turn down marriage proposals from their equally famous gentlemen callers. What results is a confluence of love, anger, grief, and bloodshed, as the ensemble struggles to reconcile romantic ideologies of the past with their modern ideas of courtship. Everything you've learned about love from the pages of Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and Little Women is turned upside down in this grand theatrical battle royale.

Genres: Plays

67 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[alexis litteken · Rating 3 out of 5]

think of your favorite heroines of 19th-century literature and then make it punk rock

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

:D

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am no actor but I love dialogue and actors, so I read quite a few plays. I adored this play. In great part because I love, Wuthering Heights, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, and Jane Eyre; all of which this play borrows characters from. The dialogue is as quick as it is sharp and, I fear, not may casts would be able to pull it off with justice. The action is slightly slapstick, which is great given the characters at play. I laughed a solid guttural laugh multiple times and couldn't wait to see how the fuck it played out. By the way, there is a lot of cursing in it.

This doesn't have a better rating from me because I found the unconventional format of the final act to be off-putting and a bit like theatrical coitus interruptus. I suspect that may have been the feeling at large.

[Aaron Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very, very funny spoof of Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Little Women, and Pride & Prejudice that reuses the characters and retells their stories as a kind of mythical battle of the sexes. The thing about You on the Moors Now is just that it is absolutely hilarious. It doesn't totally work to my mind, at least by the time we get to the end, but this play had me cracking up.

[FaerieLight · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the commonalities of some famous female literary characters right after their (in)famous proposals. Some of the feminist themes sadly don't quite go beyond pop feminist sentiments. As a play it might be more interesting for a younger audiences (teen-young adult) and probably lives from a strong comedic direction

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it with the thought of looking for some scene work for my acting students. There’s a few good monologues (Laurie’s would be fun) and some short scenes between each of the romantic interests from Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Little Women, and Pride and Prejudice.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure what to think. I have read one or two of these books and hated them; I do not see why everyone loves them. I understood the play but, without a deep interest in the books referenced, this play seems shallow. I could see the humor but no belly laughs for me.

[Glynnis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the idea, but like most plays I read, would really like to see how the staging (and even development) of this one went. If I were still producing, it might be one to look at - cast is a little large, but lots of fun for actors and lots of potential for marketing known characters and story

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a weird play

[Chelsea Gomez · Rating 1 out of 5]

pls know that i have nothing against jaclyn but. THIS SCRIPT IS SO BAD. pls never compete with it. 🙏🙏🙏 characters make me ick. jo march makes me ick. whole thing ick. 🙁

[mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

So unbelievably excited for this

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sort of like the Barbie movie but with literary heroines. Reread every word of the previous sentence and ask yourself, “Is this play for me?”

[Rosie Korzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugh I loved this so much I just wanna get a bunch of friends together and act this out and drink a huge punch bowl of margaritas and laugh

[Thomas Correnti · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s like Avengers: Endgame but for nerds

[Adia Cotto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an interesting concept for a play and i loved every second of it! It’s kinda giving Six: the musical meets literally heroines. And WRITTEN BY A WOMAN 😌

[maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i loved this.

[Kierstan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a quirky and fun play

[Lluvia Almanza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received this as part of my Dramatists’ Play Service book club. It incorporates the leads of Wuthering Heights, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre so I was able to find a fun monologue to work on.

[John Perine · Rating 5 out of 5]

On this most recent reread, I fell even more deeply in love with this play. I’m just going to keep putting my desire to direct it out into the universe and hopefully eventually I’ll get to. 🤪