Reviewed by Lisa Saccone
I went to see Letters to Emma, which was performed at the Litchfield Garrick theatre on Tuesday 3rd October 2017 and runs until Saturday 7th October 2017. Written by Lichfield playwright Carolyn Scott Jeffs and directed by the Garrick’s artistic director Tim Ford, it is based on the life of poet Anna Seward, who lived from 1742 until 1809.
Distressed by the death of local playwright David Garrick, Anna writes a letter to her dear friend Emma, the first correspondence for more than ten years.
The play tells the story of 21st century local girl Emma and her desire to sort her troubled young life out in the difficult world of social media while attempting to write her university dissertation.
Emma has found herself lonely as she is away from her ‘real’ friends and family and has taken comfort in the friendship of the virtual world, living her life through social media. Whilst away from home, she has to tackle with the task of writing her dissertation so after looking at the lives of key female figures in history, decides to write about Lichfield’s Anna Seward, the celebrated writer and poet, who lived in the Bishop’s Palace in the cathedral close and was an acquaintance of Samuel Johnson, Erasmus Darwin and David Garrick.
As she researches Anna she starts to become more and more captivated by her subject and then starts to hear voices in her head and see ghostly images on her social media platforms. The audience is captivated by the plot – is this Anna herself or her imagination playing tricks on her?
Lizzie Wofford plays the modern-day Emma and Heather Westwell as Anna Seward. They appear alongside each other on stage with Emma tapping away on the laptop keyboard and recording her life on e-photos and tweets while Anna sits thoughtfully in her study recording her thoughts and opinions. Initially they seem physically unaware of each other’s presence but the two generations do eventually come together in the second act for a delightful meeting of minds, whilst the audience struggle to work out who is imaginary and who is real.
Emma, played by Lizzie Wofford, shows all of the emotions of a young person in turmoil, in one moment soaring onto the treadmill to pound out her dream to run a marathon and the next collapsed in front of the blue screen as she receives frightful e-messages.
Heather Westwell’s role as Anna is very restrained and depicts well an 18th century woman stuck by the restrictions of the male dominated times.
This play keeps you engrossed and gripped from start to finish and there is plenty of humour and surprise and I would definitely go to see it again given the chance.
Rating: 4/5
For other shows at the Lichfield Garrick visit www.lichfieldgarrick.com or call the box office on 01543 412121.
Lichfield Garrick Theatre, Castle Dyke, Lichfield, WS13 6HR | 01543 412121
