Immersive Take on Emma Promenades Into Spring

The dating scene is a wreck in the modern age. Meeting someone in person is a fantasy of a bygone era, and the mingling masses are expected to swipe and swipe again in perpetual search of the one. Digital matchmaking algorithms grow exhausting and disheartening, so it’s no wonder many hopeless romantics flock to tales of the ‘Ton with their lavish balls, promenades through the parks, and swoon-worthy, witty banter. 

The matriarch of such tales, Jane Austen, turns 250 years old this year. In celebration, Dacha Theatre is hosting a theatrical bash with a presentation of Emma, a contemporary, feminist take on Austen’s novel, written by Kate Hamill. 

The story follows Emma, who fancies herself a successful matchmaker among her friends and the people of the village, Highbury. Left alone in a household with only her despondent father after a successful match leads to the marriage and departure of her governess and closest friend, Emma seeks to make another match. She takes Harriet under her wing and determines to find the woman a suitable husband, but her meddling in other people’s affairs doesn’t play out entirely as she suspects it will. Hearts have a will of their own, after all. 

Dacha Theatre opened their ninth season at the end of October with an enrapturing show on the Greek gods and their all too human familial hardships, recanting a unique play on the Hades and Persephone myth with The Pomegranate Tree. After attending the show and meeting with some of the cast and creative team, I knew I needed to see what they were devising next. 

L-R: James Schilling as Frank Churchill, Rachel Guyer-Mafune as Emma, and Pearl Mei Lam as Jane

Brett Love via press kit

Emma, with its playful charm, seems the perfect addition to the season. Audiences are invited to come as they are, dress boldly, and have fun. Dacha’s performances tear down the fourth wall and engage audiences with the narrative at hand, allowing viewers to  be truly a part of the experience and, in their own small way, dictate the outcome of the story. Spectators may be asked to help characters make decisions, give advice, or simply indulge in the revelry. 

Immersive theater can be a difficult thing to step into for the first time. It breaks the rules of theater-going that have been ingrained in us for years. It shatters the assumption that audiences are only meant to watch and not participate. Luckily, for those who wish to embark upon that new frontier, Dacha is a welcoming company to do so with. Spectators are drawn in and ensnared with good fun and an engaging story, making it easy to join in. 

If all that involvement sounds a bit daunting, fret not! Riser seating on the outskirts of the performance space offers a more standard, proscenium-like viewing of the show. One can embrace the wallflower life and observe from afar, navigating and perhaps passively influencing the various Regency era dramas.

Emma opened its doors with a sold out performance on April 3, 2025, and will run through April 19 at the 12th Avenue Arts in Capitol Hill.