'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 Malcolm's 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.
