Emilia, The Globe

You know about Shakespeare and Marlowe, but did you also know that the Elizabethan era brought the first ever published volume of poetry penned by a woman? Emilia Bassano broke the conventions of history in 1611 when she wrote and shared a collection of bold poetry, Vertuous Reader.

Despite this poetic landmark, her literary significance is usually limited to being the possible muse behind Shakespeare's 'Dark Lady' Sonnets and the Emilia characters who crop up in Othello, The Winter's Tale and Two Noble Kinsmen. Even less is known about her own life and achievements.

This summer her extrordinary story will play out on stage, revealing a writer, mother and trail-blazer. Emilia, a new play by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, follows on from Nell Gwynn and The Heresy of Love in a run of impressive, feminist new writing livening up Shakespeare's Globe.

Leah Harvey, who impressed in the Donmar's all-female Shakespeare trilogy, leads an all-female cast.