The Belle of Amherst
A play based on the life of Emily Dickinson by WILLIAM LUCE starring Julie Harris
' I am growing handsome very fast indeed! I expect I shall be the belle of Amherst when I reach my 17th year.'
Emily Dickinson wrote these lines in 1845 when she was 14 years old. The setting for the play is Amherst, Massachusetts. It is 1883. Emily is now 53 years old, a recluse, dressed all in white ... The greatest and best-loved of all American women poets, Emily Dickinson was also one of the most enigmatic. Born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, she never married, but chose to spend over 20 years of her life in virtual seclusion, writing some 1,000 letters and almost 1,800 poems. Yet behind the popular myth of shy recluse was a woman who wrote about life with remarkable insight and depth of feeling.
In The Belle of Amherst William Luce has allowed Emily to tell her own story, skilfully blending poems and extracts from her letters with words of his own.
JULIE HARRIS won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Emily Dickin son in the original stage play on Broadway when the critics said:
An overwhelming, meticulous adventure full of passion and poetry and heart
(NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
Touching and sensitive with just the right mix of radiance and ache
(CHICAGO SUN-TIMES)
A perfectly detailed cameo (BOSTON GLOBE) Directed by CHARLES s. DUBIN. Produced by MIKE MERRICK and DON GREGORY
Executive producer: In Performance PETER ADAM. Preview: page 29