Emilia School Matinee

"If they try to burn you, may your fire be stronger than theirs"

Pop-up Globe are thrilled to announce the international debut of London’s smash-hit play Emilia to round off our Farewell Auckland season. Directed by Miriama McDowell and featuring a cast of diverse women, Emilia tells the story of the elusive Emilia Bassano, the possible ‘Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s Sonnets’. Exploring sexism and marginalisation and challenging Shakespeare as you know him.

Emilia harnesses the spirit of 21st-century feminism while honouring one of the earliest advocates of the cause. Long ignored, Emily Bassano is now lauded as one of the earliest feminist authors - a poet, writer, and teacher who paid tribute to the collective strength and support of women. More than just a muse for men, her subversive, feminist spirit gets to have her story told at last.

Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s ground-breaking play Emilia, written for an all-female cast of diverse women, premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe in London in the summer of 2018 and then transferred to the West End. A rallying cry for theatrical and societal change, Pop-up Globe are proud to present its international premiere in our Auckland playhouse to close our our Farewell Auckland season, presented by Anthony Harper.