Alphonsia Emmanuel

Alphonsia Emmanuel (born 7 November 1956) is an actress known for her appearances in Under Suspicion (1991), Peter's Friends (1992) and Still Crazy (1998) among other roles. She is a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.

Emmanuel was born as Alphonsia Pamela Williams in Pointe Michel in Dominica in the British West Indies in 1956. When she was an infant her parents Lewis and Portia Williams moved to the United Kingdom in search of work while Emmanuel stayed in Dominica with her grandparents until she joined her parents in London aged two years. She attended Carlton Vale School and Ayleston High School where she gained A levels in Law and English. At this time she gained an interest in performing and attended dance classes and took part in school productions. About to leave school, Emmanuel considered a theatrical career but was put off by the advice of a career guidance counsellor “to whom I confessed my secret for the first time. She smiled indulgently and said that acting was not for people like us.”

She attended Kingston University from 1977 to 1980 where she took a Bachelor of Education degree with specialisms in English and Drama. She worked as a teacher from 1980 to 1981 but she still longed for a career in the theatre. She trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London and took a post-graduate qualification in theatre techniques in 1983. On embarking on an acting career she appeared in pantomime and toured in the play Bitter Milk with the all-black Temba Theatre Company.

She was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1983 to 1984 and played the Nurse, a part written for a black actress, in The Dillen (1983) as well as playing Sophia de Lyonne in Pam Gems’ play Camille (1984) and Muriel Farr in Louise Page’s Golden Girls (1984) in which Emmanuel appeared with Cathy Tyson, Josette Simon and Kenneth Branagh. In addition, Emmanuel understudied in two Shakespearean productions, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Measure for Measure and also for the RSC in 1985 she played Johanna in Trilogy of Reunions and Ilona/Marica in The Maple Tree Game. In 1989 she played Valeria in Coriolanus at the Young Vic and in 1997 played Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra at the Bridewell Theatre.

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