''Emilia'' is a play by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm inspired by the life of the 17th century poet and feminist Emilia Bassano, as well as her speculated role as

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's " Dark Lady."

Synopsis

Four hundred years ago, Emilia Bassano wanted her voice to be heard. It wasn't. Could she have been the 'Dark Lady' of

Shakespeare's sonnets William Shakespeare (1565 –1616) wrote sonnets on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare's sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto in 1609. Howe ...

? What of her own poetry? Why was her story erased from history?

Production history

The play was commissioned for the Shakespeare's Globe where it opened from 10 August 2018 running until 1 September. The production featured an all-female cast and was directed by Nicole Charles. Following the run at the Globe, the production was announced to transfer into the West End at the Vaudeville Theatre from 8 March 2019. The limited run was due to end on 15 June, however it was announced that it would be closing two weeks early on 1 June 2019. On 27 June 2019, Nick Hern Books announced that the play was available to be performed by all-female casts in UK educational institutions. From 4 to 22 March 2020, the play ran as part of the farewell Anthony Harper Pop-up Globe season in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, directed by Miriama McDowell. In October 2020, it was announced that an archive recording of the 2019 West End production would be available to watch online between 10 and 24 November 2020 to support the theatre industry during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. This date was later extended to December 2nd. In October 2021, a production of the play directed by Karen Tomlin ran for a week at the Barbican Centre's Milton Court Theatre in London.

Awards and nominations

West End production

References

{{OlivierAward Entertainment or Comedy 2018 plays British plays West End plays Laurence Olivier Award–winning plays Plays based on real people Plays set in the 17th century Plays set in London Cultural depictions of William Shakespeare