Pitt State Theatre brings trailblazing woman's story to life
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Feb. 20—PITTSBURG, Kan. — Pitt State Theatre will present "Emilia," the story of Emilia Bassano, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Dotty and Bill Miller Theatre in the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts at Pittsburg State University.
Bassano, who is thought to have been a woman of color and perhaps Jewish, is considered to have been the first woman to have published a collection of poetry. Many remember her for potentially being the "Dark Lady" in Shakespeare's sonnets.
In this contemporary play, which features an all-female cast, Bassano's story unfolds as she struggles with getting her work seen and her voice heard.
"'Emilia' is a roar of empowerment for anyone and everyone whose voice has ever been marginalized," said Jenna Russell, a director of the performance alongside Gil Cooper, in a statement. "The playwright does a great job of taking 17th century characters and bringing them home for a 21st century audience with humor, compassion and vision."
"Salve Deus Rex Judæorum," Bassano's only book, was entered into the Stationers' Register on Oct. 2, 1610, and published in 1611, the same year as the King James version of the Bible, according to the Chicago-based nonprofit Poetry Foundation. The volume is made up of a series of poems to individual patrons; two short prose dedications; the title poem on Christ's Passion, viewed entirely from a female perspective; and the first country-house poem printed in English, "The Description of Cooke-ham," according to the foundation.
In Pittsburg State's production, the title role will be performed by three students representing Bassano in three stages of her life: Esperanza Deterding, Corin Cooper and Khadija Ceesay. The cast includes Miranda Madden, Grace Springer, Haley Denton, Korah Calvin, Katia Arians-LaForte, Molly Knight, Emilie Crowley, Michaela Henningson, Darcy McDonald, Tayler Matthews and Leah McDonald.
Cooper said only a handful of theater programs in the U.S. have been granted permission to perform the show.
