Although Emilia Lanier, née Bassano, is a popular choice among scholars as the ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets, little is actually known about this English poet. Playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcolm emphatically fills the biographical gaps in this feminist historical dramedy that’s heavy on contemporary relevance.

Commissioned by London’s Globe Theatre, where it premiered with an all-female cast in 2018, Emilia won three Olivier Awards, including Best Entertainment or Comedy Play. Essential Theatre has gathered a team of women and non-binary actors, creatives and crew for its Australian debut. Among them is renowned director Petra Kalive, but a wobbly opening night probably didn’t do justice to what they have created.

Cessalee Stovall as Emilia with other cast members. Photo © Dylan Hornsby/Good Gravy Media

The title character, who died in 1645 aged around 76, was the daughter of an Italian musician of Elizabeth I’s court. Well educated but orphaned young, Lanier is presented by Lloyd Malcolm as an intelligent, desirable and rebellious figure who must make her own way in life among the upper class. History acknowledges Lanier as the mistress of Lord Henry Carey, who was patron of Shakespeare’s Lord Chamberlain’s...