Emma

by Kate Hamill (Adapter), Jane Austen

Emma Woodhouse is clever, educated, and energetic… and in imminent danger of going mad with idleness. In a time when respectable ladies are expected to sit quietly at home, she desperately needs projects – and prides herself on matchmaking, much to the chagrin of her friend, Mr. Knightley. But where Emma‘s considerable energies focus, screwball comedy follows… A fresh feminist take on a treasured classic, this Emma breaks down convention, expectation, and even the fourth wall with vibrant, comic flair – leading audiences “forward, onward, and upward!”

Genres: Plays

182 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really enjoyed this adaptation at the St. Louis Repertory Theatre.

Of course it helped that the actors were utterly fantastic in their roles! Emma, especially. Her direct address to the audience was especially fun -- I think the adaptation struck absolutely the right note to draw the audience into the play and bring us into Emma's inner life.

[z · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked how the feminist subtext of the novel was put at the forefront in the play, but I can’t really say I found it a meaningful expansion of that commentary given that one of the largest aspects of the story that was ripe for feminist criticism—Knightley’s age—was just shortened and played for laughs. I also just didn’t find it that funny tbh, the fourth wall breaks got old