Emma Watson – The Play is a precisely constructed performance about the activism of the English actress ★★★☆☆

English actress Emma Watson (Hermione in Harry Potter and Belle in Beauty and The Beast) can only be seen for one veiled moment during the performance that bears her name. On a laptop, both actresses on the side of the stage quickly watch a clip from Watson’s speech to the United Nations as they change clothes. The famous Women Goodwill ambassador kicked off her HeForShe campaign with it in 2014, to call on men to stand up for women’s emancipation. That activism was punished online: After the actresses re-enacted Watson’s speech on a stage, nasty commentary passes over a movie screen. Watson’s credibility as a feminist has also been harshly criticized after she allowed herself to be photographed with half bare breasts in 2017 by Vanity Fair† How authentic is Watson’s activism? And who is in charge of that?

These questions form the interesting starting point of Emma Watson – The Play, a performance that, despite the absence of the famous actress, breathes her work, status and ambitions in everything. Theater maker Caro Derkx cut and pasted statements by her childhood idol into a theatrical and cinematic portrait of a star actress who publicly tries to be a feminist and literature lover. Together with Nora El Koussour, Derkx takes on the role of Watson and the writers she has interviewed, such as the American feminist Rebecca Solnit. Every now and then they wink at her English accent and mannerisms. Koussour in particular alludes with her funny body language to the potentially double standard of the activist actress she played.

Yet the precisely constructed performance touches on a deeper layer about dubious settlements with public identities of famous stars. Theatrically questioning Watson’s sincerity is of interest to lovers of her work and connoisseurs of intersectional feminism. But the vulnerability of privileged or daring activism is still barely touched upon.