HowlRound Theatre Commons: Barnstorming speeches, rousing calls to action, and unapologetic feminist rhetoric fill the play Emilia, written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm for Shakespeare’s Globe in 2018. But, for me, the most profound moment in this all-female show is one I imagine slips by for a lot of others. The play is a historical fantasy about Emilia Bassano Lanier, sometimes thought to have been the Dark Lady of the Sonnets and a lover of Shakespeare’s. Near the end of the play, Shakespeare brags to Emilia that he’s “the world’s most famous playwright so any theatre I may step into can legitimately be considered ‘My gaff.’” Emilia responds, with quiet strength, “Not right now it isn’t.” The conversation in the play quickly moves on, but that moment reverberated through me.
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