Don't miss our playtext bundle offer!

Save when you buy multiple plays. Add four plays to your basket, and receive 25% off one of the plays.

The discount is applied automatically at checkout.

The Empress Student Edition Playtext

The Empress Student Edition Playtext

£10.99
£10.99
Sold out

Details

Author: Tanika Gupta

Format: Paperback / softback

Pages: 152

Publication date:

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

General Product Safety Information

For plays the EU representative is usually the publisher or authorised agent. Contact details for EU representatives are provided within the play or its packaging. For most titles, this information is provided on the imprint page of the play.

If you have any questions regarding product safety or you need assistance in contacting the authorised EU representative for a book or play you have purchased, please contact us.

Free shipping 

We are pleased to offer our customers free standard delivery for UK orders over £60, excluding print-on-demand apparel.

Delivery costs

UK Standard: (excluding Northern Ireland)

Below £60: £4.95  

Over £60: FREE

UK Special Delivery:

Under £50: £11.95

Over £50: £16.95

Europe

Under £50: £12.00

Over £50: £25.00

International 

Below £50: £15  

Over £50: £30  

Delivery times

Our standard delivery times vary according to the delivery destination. For in stock items, we aim to deliver within:  

UK 2–5 working days  

Europe 5-7 working days

International 10–14 working days  

Click and collect

We are pleased to offer you the option of collecting your order in person at our bookshop for free! 

You can collect your order from our bookshop between 10.00 am - 10.00 pm, Monday - Saturday.

You will receive an email from us when your order is ready to be collected.

Please read our delivery information page for more details.

International orders

At present, we are only able to ship out books and plays to Europe and US due to shipping regulations. We hope to reopen more product groups soon. Thank you for your patience whilst we work on resolving this.

Details

Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, 1887.

At East London's Tilbury Docks, Rani Das and Abdul Karim, step ashore after the long voyage from India. One has to battle a society who deems her a second-class citizen; the other forges an astonishing entanglement with the ageing Queen Victoria who finds herself enchanted by stories of an India over which she rules, but has never seen.

Through narrative, music and song, The Empress blends the true story of Queen Victoria's controversial relationship with her Indian servant and 'Munshi' (teacher), Abdul Karim, with the experiences of Indian ayahs who came to Britain during the 19th century. With private romance being mapped onto world history, the action cuts between the ship and different royal residences, offering bright contrasts as well as surprising affinities. In doing so, the play uncovers remarkable unknown stories of 19th-century Britain and charts the growth of Indian nationalism and the romantic proclivities of one of Britain's most surprising monarchs.

The Empress, which premiered at Stratford-upon-Avon's RSC in 2013, is published here as a Methuen Drama Student Edition with commentary and notes by Professor Jane Garnett, Wadham College, University of Oxford, UK.

Educational discounts

Are you a teacher or do you work in education? We offer discounts for educational orders.

  • 10% off orders over £100
  • 15% off orders over £250

Please contact us to find out more.*

*You need to work in education to validate the discount. We recommend emailing us from your work email address.