The life and writings of Emily Dickinson, one of America’s most treasured poets, come vividly to life in a reprise of the acclaimed Rubicon, Namba Arts, and Ojai Art Center productions of The Belle of Amherst by William Luce. The production stars Ojai actor and choreographer Anna Kotula under the direction of Steve Grumette, Artistic Director of the Ojai Film Festival.
See The Belle Of Amherst presented live on-stage May 14 – 23, at the Ojai Art Center Theater Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 2 pm. Seating is limited. Audience members are required to comply with mask policy and distancing procedures among other safety protocols per our current tier. The show will also stream for in-home viewing on May 28, 29, and 30th.
Tickets are $22, $19 for OACT members. Additional donations can be made and are much appreciated.
For tickets to the live show, please call 805-640-8797
Click here to purchase steaming tickets for $19 now through May 30.
About Dickinson
Emily Dickinson, born in 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts, became a towering figure in 19th-century literature. Dickinson wrote nearly 1,800 poems and letters, but published very few in her lifetime. She made few close friendships, seldom left her Amherst home after returning from college, and wrote many of her poems and letters unbeknownst to her family.
The Play
William Luce based The Belle of Amherst on Emily Dickinson’s life from 1830 to 1886. He set the play in her family home and uses Dickinson’s diaries, letters, and poems to recreate encounters with the few people to whom she felt close — family, friends, and acquaintances who significantly influenced her poetry.
The Belle of Amherst originally opened on Broadway in 1976, starring Julie Harris, and directed by Charles Nelson Reilly. The production garnered a Tony Award for Harris and a Drama Desk for Unique Theatrical Experience. The recorded version won a Grammy Award. The show also aired on PBS, and actors performed it in multiple languages on stages throughout the world.
The Production
Kotula’s prior performances at the Rubicon, Namba Arts, and Ojai Art Center Theater brought rave reviews.
Reviewer Sami Zahringer of Ojai Valley News wrote, “No quaintly spectral, shrinking violet here, Dickinson has girlish vivacity, wit, and charm, captured by Kotula who manages to preserve the ephemeral luminosity of Dickinson that fascinated us on the page for the best part of 200 years.”
Cary Ginell from VC Onstage said, “Her witty, poignant representation of the reclusive Dickinson brings to life a vital, ebullient, yet private woman who engagingly shares stories and lines from her poems with the audience… Anna Kotula’s portrayal of Dickinson can be summed up by a word Dickinson herself would no doubt have loved: incandescent.”