Emily of Emerald Hill

Emily of Emerald Hill (Synopsis)

ACT 1

It is 1950.  Emily, the matriarch of Emerald Hill, introduces her household members and recalls her childhood days.  She recounts her early marriage to a man twice her age and her battles with some of her in-laws to gain the favour of her mother and father –in- law.

She succeeds.  She has three sons and a daughter. She makes use of her eldest son especially to gain the upper hand in the struggle for power in the family.  The eldest son is sent to England to study law but he becomes a horse trainer.  Upon Emily’s demands that he returns to complete his studies in Singapore, he commits suicide.

ACT 2

After a whirlwind of marketing and preparation for the new year, Emily continues her  narration of her early exploits as a mother and especially her quarrel with her husband who has gone to stay in his mistress’ house.  She plots his return and finally he dies in hospital without saying anything to her.  On examining the part she played in the death of her son and her husband, she begins to understand herself and leads a new life, letting go of her other children and living in the old house all by herself to a ripe old age.

Finis

A Brief History of the Play

Emily of Emerald Hill had its World Premiere in humble surroundings, the Guthrie Chemara Club House, Seremban on 17th November 1984.  The producer was Liau Siau Suan, the director Chin San Sooi and Leow Puay Tin helmed the title role. She performed it 21 times.

Since then, it has gone on to create Malaysian and Singaporean theatre history by being the most performed play in full, abridged, added or without the playwright’s permission.  Also, the play has been introduced as a text in the school curricula and university Theatre and English Language faculties.

Actresses who have played Emily are Leow Puay Tin (Dir. Chin San Sooi), Margaret Chan (Dir. Max Le Blond) Pearlly Chua (Dir. Chin San Sooi), Jalyn Han Practice (in Mandarin (Dir. Ng Sin Yue), Aileen Lau Guek Lin (Dir. Louise Henriette Fernandez), Neo Swee Lin (Dir. Lim Kay Siu) and actor Ivan Heng ( Dir.Krishen Jit).  One production went to Hawaii, another to Scotland and another to Hong Kong and Melbourne, Pearlly to Vancouver, Wollongon, Sydney, Adelaide, Guanzhou, Singapore and throughout the major cities of Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh, Seremban, Malacca, Johore Baru Kuching, Sibu and Miri.)

Pearlly has played Emily more times than anyone else. Up- to- date she has performed the role 241 times; and her performance has gained cult status. During the Bersih rally, the audience came to see the play inspite of the barricade.

Today it is a benchmark to any actress who wants to take to the stage