Emily: HerStory

Emily of Emerald Hill is written by Stella Kon and was first directed by Chin San Sooi. It has since become the longest running local play as well as the most beloved amongst Malaysian and Singaporean audiences. The monodrama's protagonist is no other than Emily. She is in her mid-thirties when the play opens and will move back and forward through time. As a Nyonya, she wears the sarong Kebaya and adorns herself with jade bangles, brooches and earstuds.

Thoughout the play, we witness her triumph and fall. We see the bitter irony of how her love has lead to her son's suicide as well as her husband's estrangement towards her. Emily is indeed an endearing piece of work, director Krishen Jit states that Emily of Emerald Hill succeeds because,

" The Assuredness of a rooted past, springing from her peranakan heritage, lends depth to Emily, easily the most convicing character who has so far appeared in Singapore English theatre. Kon's evocation of an Asian and, therefore, transformable sense of time and space, in her bitter-sweet eulogy to a disappearing culture of the Straits Chinese, was a rare experience for the ethnically dispossessed and mostly young middle-class audience. "

Production History of 'Emily of Emerald Hill'
Directed by Chin San Sooi

17th November 1984
Directed by Chin San Sooi. Performed by Leow Puay Tin.
Five Arts Centre. Seremban and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

28-29 April 1987
Directed by Chin San Sooi. Performed by Leow Puay Tin.
East West Centre. Honolulu, Hawaii.

14-15 May 1987 (By Popular Demand)
Directed by Chin San Sooi. Performed by Leow Puay Tin.
East West Centre. Honolulu, Hawaii.

31 October - 1 November 1987
Directed by Chin San Sooi. Performed by Leow Puay Tin.
Sabah Chinese High School, Tawau, Malaysia.

7-8 November 1987
Directed by Chin San Sooi. Performed by Leow Puay Tin.
Five Arts Theatre. E & O Hotel., Penang, Malaysia.

13-18 March 1990
Directed by Chin San Sooi. Performed vt Pearlly Chua.
The Lions Club of Singapore  and Singapore Action Group of Elders. DBS Auditorium.

To date, Pearlly Chua has done 103 performances.