Emilia

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A spicy work of biographical conjecture ... It's also a rousing reminder of the countless creative women who have been written out of history or have had to fight relentlessly to make themselves heard. EVENING STANDARD The great virtue of Lloyd Malcolms speculative history lies in its passion and anger: it ends with a blazing address to the audience that is virtually a call to arms. It is throughout, however, a highly theatrical piece ... In rescuing Emilia from the shades, [the play] gives her dramatic life and polemical potency. GUARDIAN The little we know of Emilia Bassano Lanier (1569 - 1645) is that she may have been the Dark Lady of Shakespeare's Sonnets, mistress of Lord Chamberlain, one of the first English female poets to be published, a mother, teacher who founded a school for women, and radical feminist with North African ancestry. Living at a time when women had such limited opportunities, Emilia Lanier is therefore a fascinating subject for this speculative history. In telling her story, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm represents the stories of women everywhere whose narratives have been written out of history. Originally commissioned for Shakespeare's Globe with an all-female cast, Emilia is published here as a Methuen Drama Student Edition with commentary and notes by Elizabeth Schafer, Professor of Drama at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.

Reviews

It is incredibly heartening to hear unabashed feminist rhetoric, spoken by a diverse all-female cast, in a commercial theatre space. [Emilia Bassano] provides a clear way in for discussing the centuries-long silencing of women, the oppression they have faced and still face today. And youre never far from a totally topical line, the mix of past and present underlined by Lloyd Malcolms use of cheerfully anachronistic slangy contemporary phrases. It can be really fun; this is a gently meta-theatrical and very jolly historical romp of a show, in the mould of Nell Gwyn or Shakespeare in Love. The winkingly modern perspective on the nonsense men spouted and women were expected to put up with is frequently amusing. * Time Out *
If Shakespeare's Globe had a roof, it would have been blasted off by the thunderous ovations and cheers ... greeting [this] extraordinarily rousing ... play ... In many honourable ways, this feels like a therapeutic blast in the #metoo era and it ends with an appropriately spine-tingling call to arms. If they try to burn you, may your fire be stronger than theirs, so you can burn the whole f***ing house down. In the weight of her anger, [Emilia] convinces you that she holds a muscle memory of every woman who came before me". ... [This] is a landmark moment in the history of Shakespeare Globe. * Independent *
History is written by the victor, and as Malcolm's ... piece shows, the victor in the sixteenth century (and indeed, most of the time now) was male, white, privileged and uncompromising. The elder Emilia notes at one point, "We read what is recorded and see what is missing". That's what Emilia, the play, does so brilliantly; it fills in the gaps ... Malcolm writes eloquently, at times beautifully, showing Emilia's suffering and brilliance in equal measure. She also uses the context of the Globe masterfully shattering the fourth wall with direct address to bring the audience into the story. There are romantic squabbles, fun capers ... the piece has a near-constant humour ... An outright feminist triumph and a brilliant call-to-arms. * Whatsonstage *
A spicy work of biographical conjecture ... It's also a rousing reminder of the countless creative women who have been written out of history or have had to fight relentlessly to make themselves heard. * Evening Standard *
The great virtue of Lloyd Malcolms speculative history lies in its passion and anger: it ends with a blazing address to the audience that is virtually a call to arms. It is throughout, however, a highly theatrical piece ... In rescuing Emilia from the shades, [the play] gives her dramatic life and polemical potency. * Guardian *

Author Bio

Morgan Lloyd Malcolm is a playwright and screenwriter. Her play Emilia (Shakespeares Globe, 2018) transferred to the West End the following year. Her play Belongings premiered at the Hampstead Theatre and Trafalgar Studios (2011) and was shortlisted for the Charles Wintour Most Promising Playwright Award and her play The Wasp at Hampstead Theatre also transferred to Trafalgar Studios in 2015. She has co-written several acclaimed immersive site-specific plays with Katie Lyons, produced by Look Left Look Right, including You Once Said Yes, Above and Beyond and Once Upon a Christmas. She wrote and performed comedy for several years as part of the comedy group Trippplicate. She was part of the writing team for four of the Lyric Hammersmiths pantomimes from 2009-2012 and wrote (solo) the Bolton Octagons Christmas plays for 2013 and 2014. She has written two large community plays for the Old Vic New Voices: Platform and Epidemic. She formed Terrifying Women with Abi Zakarian, Sampira and Amanda Castro in 2021 with an aim to producing more horror in theatre. She is also working in Film and Television; her film adaptation of her play The Wasp is due out in 2023 and her TV adaptation of Josephine Harts Damage is also due out on Netflix in 2023. Elizabeth Schafer is Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Her work focuses on Shakespeare in production, women's work with Shakespeare and Australian drama and theatre.