American artiste Kathleen Mulligan reproduces The Belle of Amherst in a spellbinding performance at Majha House

Neha Saini

Amritsar, June 7

“The soul selects its own society and then shuts the door….” These lines spoken by Kathleen Mulligan as Emily Dickinson, in the first few minutes of her solo act, The Belle of Amherst, probably best describes the way celebrated American poet chose to live her life. Mulligan, a noted theatre artiste and director and a Fulbright scholar, presented the two hour long solo act, based on the life of Emily Dickinson, at Majha House, giving the audience a glimpse into the life and literature of the brilliant, revolutionary, and reclusive genius through her poetry, diaries, and letters. The play introduced the audience to her significant relationships, her heartbreak, and her enduring artistic passion. And Kathleen made sure that the audience well spellbound.

Mulligan has been in India for the past few months, working on a project to retell and document the stories of Partition of India through devised theatre. In between her project, she brought to life One of the period’s from Emily Dickinson’s life, who is considered to be one of the most influential figures of American poetry. “The play was written in 1976, my father was great lover of poetry and I was introduced to Emily by my father. I was fascinated by her poems, so I thought it’s a great opportunity to reproduce it and Majha House seemed like perfect place to do it,” said Kathleen. It’s a well written play, the poems brings so much of her personality. She was intense, she loved nature and in a way child-like. So, I wanted to add my own touch to complement these aspects. Kathleen performed bare feet, in her attempt to strip down the conventional understanding or perception of Emily, she had a doll house and a cut out of dog, as stage props, instead of going for lavish stage set up. Kathleen performed dressed in white, just as Emily did.

Highlighting certain elements of her life and her personality through the play, Kathleen shared that she did not want to take a conventional approach towards Emily Dickinson. “She was known to be a recluse, dressed in white and reluctant to talk to strangers. While the play highlights these aspects, it also brings out her thoughts on various subjects. Like when she also talks about religion in a way that she is not religious but spiritual, she doesn’t believe in restrictive view of anything. Also, there is this question of if this happening in real time or not. I had to stick to the script but there were a lot of freedom in presenting the play in my style,” she shared.