"When [she] delivers the rousing words that made the firebrand Goldman a prized speaker in the American union movement (as well as a national threat worthy of the attention of J. Edgar Hoover), it feels like the audience in the theatre might get out of their seats and riot. And why not?"
Chicago Critic
"The filmed performance of Howard Zinn’s stage play Emma brings to life the passion and resolve of “Red Emma” Goldman, the notorious anarchist agitator who captured the public’s imagination through her fiery speeches and unconventional “free love” lifestyle. The film dramatizes Goldman’s bold vision of equality and sexual freedom, while also giving insight into the milieu of immigrant radicals at the turn of the century — the injustices they faced and their solidarity in the pursuit of freedom. Those interested in the history of American feminism, labor struggles, and freedom of expression will especially find this film engaging in its illumination of an important public figure whose ideas have enduring relevance.”
Donna M. Kowal
Associate Professor of Communication at The College at Brockport
Author of Tongue of Fire: Emma Goldman, Public Womanhood, and the Sex Question
"Howard Zinn's Emma brings to life the human stakes in revolution in early twentieth century America, the violence of strike-breaking, and the bleak conditions under which people laboured. In its central character of Emma Goldman, it highlighted the gendered character of both oppression (unequal pay and conditions) and the sexism of the anarchist movement. Against the odds, Goldman rises to prominence as a renowned speaker, and the theatre piece portrays her combination of determination and openness extremely well. Star turns in Emma are of Johann Most and Ben Reitman, who light up the stage; and the former's speech towards the beginning of the piece would be an interesting excerpt for teaching (in terms of rhetoric and the meaning of violence). Similarly, arguments between Berkman and Goldman on the significance of beauty in living revolutionary ideals in the present might generate interesting discussion."
Clare Hemmings
Professor of Feminist Theory, London School of Economics and Political Science Gender Institute
"Step outside of the political comfort zone of complacency and the entertainment comfort zone of escapism and enter the aesthetically vital zone of confrontational creativity and contemporary consequence. ... Emma proves that historical eye and ear candy can be emotionally delicious as well as fundamentally nutritious. This is one of those 'here's something you've been missing' experiences that will inspire you to look at the topic and your world with a greater degree of scrutiny and passion. Do not miss this critically compelling theatrical triumph."
Gay Chicago Magazine
"Great to see the passions and activism of Emma Goldman, one of America's strongest fighters for social justice, introduced to a new generation. We need her voice again."
Alix Kates Shulman
Author of To the Barricades & Red Emma Speaks
"Howard Zinn's play Emma brings to life the challenges and triumphs faced by anarchist Emma Goldman, the 'Mother of the Cause.' Zinn brings his usual exceptional insight to bear on the life and times of Goldman and her colleagues, capturing the essence of the early anarchists and their idealism, as they dreamed of a better world and sacrificed themselves for the Cause and for humankind."
Heather Ostman, Ph.D.
Professor of English
Westchester Community College
"This video does justice to the power and passion of both Emma Goldman and the anarchist movement. We get to see her feminist anarchist ideas applied to issues from political violence to political change, and from free love to freedom of speech. It inspires.”
Penny A. Weiss
Professor of Political Science and Director of Women's Studies at Saint Louis University
Author of Feminist Interpretations of Emma Goldman
"With verve, wit, and nuance a young cast led by Naomi Hard renders palpable the life and politics of Emma Goldman, the fiery anarchist, who championed workers rights and women equality, and scandalized American society whether in her advocacy or free love or her anti-war activism. Howard Zinn's play excels in interweaving the personal and the political, Goldman's radicalism and the challenges she faced in pursuing her convictions."
Oz Frankel
Associate Professor of History at the New School for Social Research
"This is the best rendition -- on every level -- of Zinn's play (I have seen many). I applaud you for working so artfully to bring this gem of political theater to a larger audience."
Candace Falk, Ph.D.
Editor/Director, The Emma Goldman Papers at the University of California, Berkeley
"The first act of Emma, Howard Zinn's play about Emma Goldman, is a small miracle. Here is a drama that holds down the heroics, polemics and didacticism to which works about heroes and heroines are prone. True, Emma is idealized; she is loving, honest, selfless, daring, but she is also human and believable."
Walter Goodman
New York Times
"In the play, Emma Goldman reminds us that patriotism is love of one's country and not love of one's government. The continued relevancy of this truth is reason enough to see this play about a tough, powerful woman."
Windy City Times
