Emily Dickerson & I
Pleasance Courtyard , Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Group: Lynchpin Productions

Mark Tyson

I recently read Julian Barnes' 1984 book, Flaubert's Parrot, which is part biography, part a witty and perceptive exploration of biography itself.

Emily Dickinson & I is an attempt to pull off a similar trick. Edie Campbell plays herself, trying with varying degrees of success to create a play about Emily Dickinson. Clearly this is a project fraught with dangers. Isn't it a little conceited of an actress to produce a play about her inability to produce a play?

I wasn't convinced by the philosophical pretentions of the play, but having said that, if I could solve all the problems and dilemmas of 'putting a biographical figure on the stage', I'd be writing plays not reviewing them (maybe one day!).

Nonetheless, the play works well in other ways. Edie Campbell plays herself warts and all: she is clearly passionate about Dickinson, and as a subjective portrayal of her own experiences and what Emily Dickinson means to her personally, you can't really argue with it. The use of lights and props is simple and effective, and Campbell's reciting and reading of Dickinson's own verse and private letters is enjoyable.

The true story of an actress Edie Campbell's struggle to write a one-woman play about her heroine, Emily Dickerson. What emerges is a beautiful woven tale about writing, acting, and getting into Emily Dickerson's dress.

31 July to 24 August.

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