Emma Rice was born in Oxford in 1967 and studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1994, she joined the touring company Kneehigh; her productions included The Red Shoes (2003) and Rebecca (2015). She was artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe from 2016-2018, then set up the theatre company Wise Children. Its production of Malory Towers, adapted from the Enid Blyton novels, is at the Passenger Shed, Bristol, until 18 August and tours until 5 October. Cinema screenings of Wise Children are across the UK & Ireland from 3 October.
1. Music
She is a super young new singer-songwriter who I heard on the radio in my car. She’s got such a fresh sound and this really dark, laid-back melancholic voice. My stepkids at home were like: “Yeah, she’s really cool” – I felt so good that I’d actually managed to find somebody who was “now”. As an artist in my middle years, it’s easy to not stay tuned into modern culture, so I try really hard to keep listening to contemporary music. And the way she dresses is fantastic: she refuses to be defined by her sexuality.
2. Play
Seamas Carey Meets His 4-Year-Old Self
I saw this earlier in the year at Bristol Old Vic. Seamas found some cassette tapes his dad had recorded of him when he was four, singing and making up stories. And he set these child-like songs to music, sung by a choir. It became a really profound meditation on the irresistible force of ageing. At the end, when the choir sang, very beautifully: “Dad will you wipe my bottom? Will you wipe my bottom?”, we had tears rolling down our faces. A thing of absolute personal beauty.
3. Book
In theatre, everybody is obsessed with talking about bodily functions – there’s often shared dressing rooms, so we have to work so intimately with each other. This book is brilliant: it’s so interesting about this massive, underrated organ we have. But it also asks fantastic questions about how the gut is linked to all sorts of things – not just allergies and sensitivities, but also possibly mental health, something we’re all having to become much more aware of. The thought that what we eat might affect our brains feels so astoundingly simple. And it’s a really fun read too.
4. Place
Having lived in the south-west all my life, I’ve just moved to Somerset for the first time and I am loving it. I love the high and low art and community that mixes together, from the Frome Independent market to the Hauser & Wirth gallery in Bruton to the Talbot Inn in Mells. I love the brilliant walk from my house through the bluebell woods to the village of Nunney, where there’s a castle with a moat. And I love being woken up not by the sirens of inner-city police cars, but by the dawn chorus. It’s so loud.
5. TV
Love Island
This summer, I’ve been completely obsessed with Love Island: it was my community, my family and my wind-down, particularly when work got overwhelming. I love the personal soap opera, because people can’t put on a front for two months. The only way you can win is if people believe you’re in love. It’s really interesting in terms of human behaviour: I actually think it’s an incredibly kind show, because everybody’s trying to fall in love with such vigour. I didn’t have a favourite couple. For me, like the rest of the world, it was Ovie all the way.
6. Podcast
I’m a passionate Remainer, so I’ve been thinking a lot about humility and change and how to manage personally something I’m finding so horrifying. And I have found this BBC podcast series by Mark Mardell so helpful in giving all the history and all the steps that led to the referendum. It’s made me feel less angry and much more informed. I’m still horrified, but I have a much bigger picture about all the decades of decisions that led up to this moment. It’s an absolutely brilliant listen.
