REVIEW | Emilia, Online Stream.
★★★★★
Do you ever hear the hype over a show and wonder when you will get the chance to see it for yourself? That’s exactly what I was wishing for when I heard about Emilia last year during its West End transfer last Spring. Fortunately for us in pandemic times and thanks to their creative team, an archived recording of the show has been made available for a limited time of 2 weeks!
Audiences, or near-audiences like myself, have the opportunity to relive the play that was described by The Times as a “firecracker production“.
Emilia tells the dramatising tale of the life and career of the 17th-century poet, Emilia Bassano. In this play, we experience her struggles to be noticed in a world full of egotistical men. Emilia was one of the first published female poets, as well as being a possible candidate for the ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets. In this play she paves a clear path in for discussing the centuries-long silencing of women, the oppression they have faced – and most definitely still face today. Although we are aware, this is a topic that is as modern as it is old. Writer Morgan Lloyd Malcolm does a superb job at cleverly integrating dated slangy contemporary phrases in the voice, so making it an accessibly brilliant production.
Emilia’s story is fiercely embodied by three actors; Saffron Coomber, Adelle Leonce and Clare Perkins. Their take on Emilia’s character throughout different times in her life is gorgeous, especially as we see her grow in strength as the bold woman she is through their performances. We also see them act as spectators to their story throughout the play too. The journey of Emilia is inspiring through every breath of this production.
The entire cast is consists of women, giving a nod that we deserve our rightful place on stage just as much as the men do. We have the opportunity to reflect on our own experiences as a woman by watching Emilia too. One specific line that stuck with me from this show was Clare Perkins, “believe you can do it and you can alone”.
What makes Emilia more superb in its performance is that although the story is incredibly dominant in its message, Lloyd Malcom has written a play that delivers in humour too. I laughed so much watching this play.
Emilia is a fantastic play, not only did I come away feeling empowered as a women, that it’s up to me to tell my story on and off stage, but in fact a heart-warming production we need in our life’s right now. Hopefully this play will make a swift return, whether that’s to the West End or on a UK Tour once the curtain goes up in stages around the country.
We all have the power to be just as bold and brave as Emilia was.