We Are Only As Powerful As The Stories We Tell ... Time To Listen

Following on from Fiddler on the Roof, I had 2 hours in-between shows got get some food and have a mooch. before the 2nd show of my two show day. This next one was for Emilia, a play that I had heard a lot about on social media over the past few weeks - not to the same extent as West Side Story, but I had seen it mentioned a lot.

The only play I have seen on my own, other than Noughts and Crosses, Emilia is written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, and is about a Emilia Bassano, a largely forgotten woman but who is the supposed "Dark Lady" of William Shakespeare's sonnets.
In her time, she was a poet, simply hoping to have her works published, but as you would expect, facing an obstacle in the form of men.
What follows is her fighting for women equality burning into her work, and her life as one of the first known feminists! Well, I should really correct that as the feminist icon no one really knew about.

The play played Shakespeare's Globe around a week, before transferring to the Vaudeville later this year on the Strand. It seems ironic it is there now thinking about it, as 9 to 5 and Waitress are playing just over or down the road from Emilia - more stories with women at the centre!
What intrigued me more as I looked into the show, was that a lot of the creative team and ALL the cast were female, a rare feat in the West End indeed, but oh wow did it make a difference!

As you can imagine, this has A LOT of girl power in it - in fact, it has more than if all the Spice Girls had 10 clones each - and it wasn't until the interval when I realised I wore completely the wrong tshirt - the one with Jon Snow's brooding gorgeous face across my chest... Ooops…..

Away from my Kit Harrington fetish and BAAACK to Emilia, showcasing her life from when she was 7 until her 70s, there are 3 different actresses playing Emilia - Saffron Coomber as Emilia 1, Adelle Leonce as Emilia 2, and Clare Perkins as Emilia 3, a part looking and commenting at her past self, similar to Fun Home's Alison. In the show, she is full of anger and grief, and it is interesting that the actresses swap over during moments when Emilia suffers grief - as if it is THAT which is holding her life together.

I nearly didn't see this. I came down primarily to catch Judy Kuhn in Fiddler before she left. This was a "Why not?" choice, and could have let it pass by. Not seeing it would have been a HUGE mistake. Though I originally came for Tevye and Golde, Emilia was the one that stood out more for me and truly blew me away!

The time Emilia was living in was the transition from the Tudors into the Stewards. For believing anything close to women equality, women were abused, beaten, even accused of witchcraft - but most of all, they were silenced. This play is one big fat yell - and the yells and claps and cheers back from the audience don't lie, especially with Emilia's final cry.

I don't want to go further into the plot for fear of spoilers - yes it is definitely one that you HAVE to see for yourself.

It's powerful, empowering, moving, challenging and passionate on so many levels. In fact, no other piece has challenged me more as a woman than this one has.

My reaction to Fun Home was to call my parents and discuss the show. I was close to doing the same with my Mum, only it was late when I got out of the theatre - but mark my words, I got talking right away the minute I got home on Sunday! Plus, I bought the script at the theatre - something I don't normally do when I go and see plays.

If you are in London this week, YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS PLAY!
Why next week? Because it is very sadly ending its limited run next Saturday!

I don't care if you have plans etc, MAKE TIME. If you cannot make it, then start praying it goes on tour, because that is what I will certainly be doing! More women (and men) NEED to see this play! It is truly an important piece of theatre - I do not say that often.