Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Theres also the fact that those poems would not be fully appreciated until years after Dickinsons death.
The people who are waiting are really her audience.
That layered moment is the epitome of what Smith has tried to bake intoDickinsonfrom its inception.
Its also me telling my own coming-of-age storyin a coded way.
This season had recurring references to sewing that build to Emily designing her own dress in the finale.
That isnt true; its just one dress she had.
But a replica of it is on display in the Dickinson Museum and its become mythologized.
We began our show taking that myth apart.
Shes never seen in white, but in a lot of bold colors and patterns.
But this show is asking the question, How did she become Emily Dickinson?
and the white dress becomes this talisman of her full achievement as the poet she would become.
If this is her origin story, this is her superhero cape.
I have it hanging in my closet.
Emily honors Betty by saying, I dont want you to just make this dress for me.
I need your artistic vision to help me imagine a whole new kind of dress.
Betty is a grown woman, even more than Sue.
She has experienced that full maturation into a grown-up female artist.
In some ways, Betty represents where Emily needs to go.
Usually there would be one song, and I would be like,It has to be that.
Thats what happened with Your Light.
Its also obvious in terms of the meaning of, every artist needs to head toward their own light.
It was like we were in a spell.
But originally, we had Satie playing throughout as Emily appeared on the beach.
Because it is a shift.
Their score, and particularly Drum & Laces vocals, stand in for Emily Dickinsons inner life.
Fact: Of course he didnt leave her anything.
Thats the way society was.
None of that was Emily Dickinsons concern, but it was my concern as an artist.
It was also about responding to the individual members of the cast.
We were having very open conversations about that.
Ella is going through her own process of coming out and sorting out her own queerness.
In Austin having to articulate the role that he wants, hes had to overcome Sues internalized misogyny too.
Thats the part that feels new and interesting to me.
One thing we do know about Austin is that he kind of did become his dad.
He never left home.
He took on all the jobs his dad had.
He took over the law firm.
She wants Emily as a lover, a body to hold at night.
Its now more about doing the work to ensure Emilys place in the canon.
Thats fascinating, because was she trying to be an activist?
Martha told us she believed Sue had facilitated that publication.
So we changed our story so that Sue gave the poem.
It became more meaningful, because thats how Sue meets Emilys needs.
Its wonderful to see people who organically gravitate into that space.
Its very powerful and its not intellectual.
Im somebody whos thinking in terms of what were trying to say about American history.
And when you let that drop, what is really there is these characters.
The fan response has reminded me that the core is the emotion and the relationships.
But you have all these scenes with him and the freed Black soldiers hes training.
But then the question becomes, How do you tell that story and not center the experience of Higginson?
Because thats not necessary right now.
It was harrowing and difficult, but so worth it.
What does hope mean to you in the context of the show?What do we do with hope?
I have not figured that out for myself.
You have to go out and make your own hope.
Its about the fact that hope becomes an activity.
Its always an active process of creating the future, but the onus is on us.
Especially with something like climate.
Stuff is gonna keep on happening, so we have to keep acting within that.
I dont think I have a lot of hope!
In line with climate, perhaps, there is so much of Emily gardening in this season.
In terms of the show, we had always shot in fall and winter.
But this season, we actually got spring.
It was such a pleasure to put that garden together.
You signed an overall deal with Apple last year, and you mentioned thinking about writing something less intellectual.
Ill be writing something reflective of and about people handling what comes with life beyond that point.
