Emma Juliet Rice[1] (born August 1967) is a British actor, director and writer. Hailed as a fearless director,[2] Rice's work includes theatrical adaptations of Brief Encounter, The Red Shoes and Wise Children. In 2022, Rice was named in the Sky Arts Top 50 most influential British artists.[3] Rice worked with Kneehigh Theatre[4] in Cornwall for twenty years as an actor, director, then artistic director with co-artistic director, Mike Shepherd. She was the Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe from 2016 to 2018, before founding her own touring theatre company Wise Children.[5][6]
Early life
Rice was born in Oxfordshire, England,[7] and grew up in Nottingham, where her mother was a social worker and her father was a lecturer in personnel management.[8] After studying English and Stage Design at Harrington College[9] Rice went on to study acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[4]
Career
After graduating from Guildhall, Rice spent eight years working with Alibi Theatre, performing theatre that emphasised storytelling.[9] Alongside touring the UK and performing to children and communities with Alibi, Rice developed her craft, training in Poland, with Gardzienice, a company founded by Włodzimierz Staniewski.[8]
In 1994, Rice joined the Cornish theatre company, Kneehigh, as a performer.[10] After taking on increasing creative responsibilities,[9] Kneehigh Artistic directors Bill Mitchell and Mike Shepherd encouraged her to direct[11] and her first production, The Itch, was staged in 1999.[9] As a director, Rice says that her long-running production of The Red Shoes represented the point in her career when she came into her own.[11][12] Rice went on to become the Artistic Director of Kneehigh, alongside Mike Shepherd, and under their stewardship Kneehigh produced a plethora of adaptations and original work, including Tristan and Yseult, The Bacchae and a 'seedy, dreamy' take on Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus.[13] While Rice's work did not always appease critics, Kneehigh's 'visually stunning, inventive, often subversive and unashamedly populist' shows toured in the UK and internationally.[9]
In 2015, it was announced that Rice would take over from Dominic Dromgoole as artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe,[10][14] with Rice applying for the role despite stating: "I have tried to sit down with Shakespeare but it doesn’t work... I get very sleepy and then suddenly I want to listen to The Archers."[15] After a summer season that included Rice's A Midsummer Night's Dream and 'exceptionally strong' box office returns,[16] it was announced in October 2016 that Rice would leave the Globe in April 2018. The announcement followed a decision by the theatre's board, which cited concerns over authenticity and her use of lighting technology[16][17] after she steadfastly refused to abide by the Globe's founding principles of “shared light" and non-amplified sound.[18] Previous Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole disagreed with Rice's attempts to move away from this traditional "shared light" – in which the actors and audience are in the same light – which he said was "at the heart of her disagreements with colleagues and the board".[19] Her final Shakespeare production at the Globe was Twelfth Night, which received middling reviews,[20][21] with the Arts Desk stating the production "ends up giving two fingers to Shakespeare, which rather makes the board’s case for them."[22]
In 2017, Rice announced her new touring theatre company, Wise Children.[6]Standard Issue Magazine made her their woman of the year in 2016 for "her fearlessness, leadership, innovation and bravery".[2] Wise Children was accepted into Arts Council England’s group of regularly supported organisations and allocated annual funding of £475,000 from 2018. This was not without controversy however; Christy Romer, a journalist for Arts Professional, said that allowing Wise Children into the Arts Council’s national portfolio despite its lack of any track record "makes a mockery of the entire arts funding system".[23]
During the COVID-19 pandemic Rice's Wise Children live streamed a fully staged production to a global audience with their production of Romantics Anonymous which had been due to tour the US prior to the pandemic.[24][25][26] Alongside the live streams Rice also presents a podcast series looking behind the scenes of her work and process[27]
A co-production with The Old Vic London based on the film by Percy Adlon.[52] This production was also Live Streamed as part of the Old Vic In Camera series.
