I love epic storytelling, I love ensemble drama, I love the tragicomic undertones: *L'Empireo* is all of these things combined. And that’s not all: it tells a gripping story. It’s a contemporary play that dares to be set in the 18th century, specifically in March 1759. A contemporary play set in period costume? I don’t believe it! Well, yes. But that’s not all—in fact, perhaps its most important feature is this: it’s the first play I’ve come across that tackles gender issues without succumbing to rhetoric or banality. It’s blunt, raw, and true—just like reality. And it gives prominence to female actors—19 characters, 17 of whom are female. A welcome reversal of the trend compared to the average number of roles conceived and written for women.
Monica Capuani—who translated the play and introduced it to me—and I are committed to showcasing works like this in Italy to highlight their uniqueness and absolute importance. *L’Empireo* is a militant, compelling, and entertaining play, featuring an exceptional cast, that delves into Kirkwood’s writing, into the bodies and moods of the 12 matrons, the defendant, and the judgment of a sky as luminous as it is powerless—all in the vain hope that a comet might pass by and change history.

*L'Empireo* is the most recent work (the first production, which premiered at the National Theatre in London in early 2020, was cut short by the pandemic) by the great English playwright Lucy Kirkwood, author of highly compelling and highly successful plays such as *Chimerica*, *The Children* (also staged in Italy, directed by Andrea Chiodi, starring Elisabetta Pozzi, Giovanni Crippa, and Francesca Ciocchetti), and *Mosquitoes*.

*L’Empireo* is an extremely monumental and ambitious play: set in mid-18th-century rural England, it tells the story of a jury of twelve women summoned by a judge who cannot execute a young woman for murder because she claims to be pregnant. The all-female jury must determine whether this claim is true or false, and in doing so will hold the power of life or death over her. From this female microcosm emerge the fundamental and timeless issues of women’s lives in any era. First and foremost among these is the unfair treatment that laws written by men still inflict on women and their bodies today.