Brittany Deneen, right, as Emilia and Joe Sykes as William Shakespeare in “The Dark Lady.” (All photos by Casey Gardner Ford)
Exactly who Emilia Bassano was has long been disputed, but there’s no mistaking that she is the thoroughly intriguing center of the new play The Dark Lady, making its U.S. premiere at Synchronicity Theatre.
Written by Jessica B. Hill and directed here by Alexis Kulani Woodard, The Dark Lady closes out Synchronicity’s 27th season and runs through June 29. It’s a two-character show with strong performances and smart, often fascinating speculation about the titular woman described in Shakespeare’s sonnets.
Will and Emilia presumably make each other’s acquaintance after making eyes at each other, but it turns out they have met each other before. The two soon discover that he is William Shakespeare (Joe Sykes), the author of three plays, the latest of which is The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and she is Bassano (Brittany Deneen), whose family includes court musicians who play for the queen. He is married with children; she is the mistress of Lord Chamberlain. She’s also multiracial and multilingual.
There’s a romantic spark between the two, but Emilia isn’t afraid of speaking her mind. “You are shit at writing women,” she tells Will bluntly mid-dance. In fact, many of his female characters seem to be portrayed by 12-year-old boys. In Emilia’s eyes, she wants more complex female characters than the playwright has been offering.
They bicker back and forth yet remain close over several decades. Emilia becomes Will’s muse, friend and lover. She helps him with his own creations as he prospers and becomes (arguably) the most prolific playwright of all time — yet, ironically, she struggles to become a writer herself. It’s an Elizabethan society where men are allowed to do what they want, but women have much fewer options, especially women of color. Bassano eventually became the first published female poet in England in 1611 with Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum, her collection of poems. Getting to that point, however, was not easy.
The Dark Lady is top-heavy with romantic and comedic banter early on, yet jells into something deeper and much more satisfying. There’s a genuine affection and appreciation between the two central characters.
It’s easy to see what attracted Synchronicity Theatre to this project. It’s very much about a strong female protagonist, using a contemporary lens to give us a scenario of what might have happened. Like the last play I saw at the company — Kelundra’s Smith’s The Wash — it’s a finely-spun tale about women finding their own strength and mettle.
Hill’s dialogue is crisp, playful and often very funny. “I’m mocked for being too schooled and you for not being enough,” Emilia observes at one point about Will. The play should be especially engaging for Shakespeare fans. These two characters have a definitive impact on each other, and their relationship influences Shakespeare’s future canon. When tragedy unexpectedly happens to Will and Emilia, it shows up in Shakespeare’s work.
I should note my surprise at the notion that Shakespeare was bisexual and had a relationship with another man before he began his marriage or his relationship with Bassano. Both he and Emilia seem pretty nonchalant about it; she is more surprised about his taste in men than the fact that he likes them.
Deneen’s Emilia is a woman longing to be taken seriously and to have the opportunities men do. She is enormously appealing in the role, having feelings for Will but also seeing how easy it is for him. She gives him his vision, and he sops up the glory, even as she remains professionally anonymous.
Sykes has long been a reliable actor and makes Shakespeare an equally complex character. He is a talented writer, for sure, and he benefits from having Emilia around and the advice and love she gives him. Yet he can also be insensitive and cruel, at one time talking about Bassano’s failure as an artist.
The Dark Lady is not perfect. The characters age 30 years over the course of the play, and that is not readily apparent. If it’s sometimes a little unclear how much time has passed, the performances make up for those shortcomings.
Throughout the play, musician Andrew Cleveland plays several instruments, including a mandolin and a cello. While those moments are not entirely scripted, playwright Hill has indicated that music is both vital to the play and to Emilia’s family and narrative. At times it feels a little off-putting, but Cleveland’s original work effectively serves as a lovely complement to what is going on onstage.
The Dark Lady is Hill’s maiden play, produced for the first time in 2023. Also an actor and educator, the playwright has stated that the project is her attempt to bring Bassano out of the dark and out of Shakespeare’s shadow. She has done a very admirable job in doing so, and, under Woodard’s sure-footed staging, Synchronicity’s production is a clever, well-acted, breezy 90 minutes.
Where & When
The Dark Lady is at Synchronicity Theatre through June 29. Tickets start at $37.
1545 Peachtree St. NE., #102
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Jim Farmer is the recipient of the 2022 National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award for Best Theatre Feature and a nominee for Online Journalist of the Year. A member of five national critics’ organizations, he covers theater and film for ArtsATL. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he has written about the arts for 30-plus years. Jim is the festival director of Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival, and lives in Avondale Estates with his husband, Craig.
