EMMA: No One But Herself -- Bridgerton meets Regencycore exuberance meets Brené Brown’s TED Talk on the power of vulnerability.This energetic and contemporary classical adaptation of Jane Austen's novel explores the necessary risk of feeling your feelings. With a fresh book and soaring score, the effervescently-paced EMMA: No One But Herself will charm you with its wit and heart. Welcome to Highbury, people.**If you'd like to produce this with an intermission, pop down to the instrumentation section for notes on how to do it.
Plot
Emma Woodhouse, handsome and clever and rich, amuses herself by matchmaking for her friends - until she meets her own match. Is opening herself up to the possibility of romance worth the sacrifice of her independence and control?
A NOTE ON CASTING
This play is for everyone, and we enthusiastically encourage a full scope of diversity in casting across all matrices. There have been a lot of interpretations of Emma—we’re interested in the version that allows actors of all racial, gender, body, and ability identities to comfortably and joyfully be cast in any role. To that end, please feel free to adjust any pronouns/language accordingly to reflect actor identity. If any casting choice requires adjustment to vocal range(s), please contact Uproar to collaborate on a version that works best for your cast.
EMMA WOODHOUSE - Principal. Handsome and clever, with a comfortable home and little to distress or vex her. A little spoiled, a lot of fun. Secretly vulnerable—though not as secretly as she'd like.
GEORGE KNIGHTLEY - Principal. Buttoned-up and intelligent, a little snarky. Emma's brother-in-law.
HARRIET SMITH - Principal. Simple, warm, wears her big heart on her sleeve.
ANNE TAYLOR WESTON - Principal. Emma's former nanny and current friend. A late bloomer.
JANE FAIRFAX - Principal. Reserved. Under that: whip-smart, eccentric.
FRANK CHURCHILL - Principal. Exuberant, a charmer. A preeny cat of a man.
ROBERT MARTIN - Principal. A farmer full of deep feelings. Can be doubled with Mr. Weston.
HETTY BATES - Principal. An endearingly annoying chatterbox. Can be tripled with Augusta/Frank’s Aunt.
HENRY WOODHOUSE - Supporting. Emma's hypochondriac father.
PHILIP ELTON - Supporting. A pretentious vicar.
MR. WESTON - Supporting. Anne Taylor Weston's husband. A nice guy! Can be doubled with Robert Martin.
AUGUSTA - Supporting. Elton's obnoxious eventual love interest. Can be tripled with Hetty/Frank’s Aunt.
FRANK'S AUNT - Supporting. Cranky. Sick. Overbearing. Can be tripled with Hetty/Augusta.
THE ENSEMBLE - Ensemble. Gossipy, ever-present. Ensemble size dependent on production.
Piano, Violin, Cello
A contemporary classical piano trio. If you'd like to add an intermission, here's how to do it:The most natural place for an intermission is immediately after Scene 11: Box Hill. At the end of Scene 11, the creators recommend playing 9c When I Paint Highbury as an instrumental outro to fade to black and transition to intermission. Then repeat 9c again right after intermission, this time as the underscore to Emma's monologue at the top of Scene 12: Emma Reflects.