Austen’s EMMA in fine fettle at Everyman
E.M. Forester, Edith Wharton, Patricia Highsmith: these and other noteworthy social satirists have each enjoyed their flurries of renewed interest and adaptation onto stage and screen. But for consistency and longevity of both fervent fandom and successful renewal, few if any can rival the matchless Jane Austen. Maybe only Dickens and Shakespeare, in the English-speaking canon, can give her a run for her money. And in any list of her heroines attracting generation after generation of rediscovery, the eponymous Emma Wodehouse may rank near the top.
Flirty, fun, savagely smart, and relentlessly ruthless in the courage of her convictions, Emma seems to have everything–but can’t help getting in her own way. Seeking an outlet for her well-honed abilities and looking to Do Good willy-nilly, Emma might find society’s limits on her, as a young woman, only surpassed by her own unexpected foibles as a fallible human. The comically romantic escapades of Jane Austen’s Emma sparkle to renewed theatrical life in a zippy new stage adaptation by Kate Hamill, playing at Everyman Theatre from May 17th through June 14th in a production directed by frequent Everyman guest director Laura Kepley.
Kepley took some time out of rehearsals to chat with me about the piece, both the source material and this version, and shared her insights into what makes the centuries-old story still so modern–as well as ways they’re finding to embody Emma’s notorious, unwittingly arrogant lack of self-awareness on her journey to self-discovery and fulfillment. As well, Hamill’s adaptation manages to keep intact some of Austen’s signature free indirect discourse, offering an archly ironic twist with direct address to the audience.
Listen to Laura share tidbits and insights about the adaptation and her production here:
Find information, tickets, dates, and more here: https://everymantheatre.org/
