Alphonsia Emmanuel

Alphonsia Emmanuel (born 7 November 1956)

Emmanuel attended Kingston University from 1977 to 1980, where she received a Bachelor of Education degree, having majored in English and Drama. After graduation, she worked as a teacher from 1980 to 1981, yet she longed for a career in the theatre. Emmanuel trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where she earned a postgraduate qualification in theatre techniques in 1983. Embarking on an acting career, she appeared in pantomime and toured with the all-Black Temba Theatre Company in Bitter Milk.

Emmanuel regularly appeared in television dramas and comedies from 1985, including recurring roles as WPC Janice Hargreaves in Rockliffe's Babies and Desmond's, and appeared as Penny Guy in House of Cards (1990). She was also a regular on stage in London during the 1980s and early 1990s, including playing Duckling in This Country's Good (1988) by Timberlake Wertenbaker at the Royal Court Theatre and Lucy in The Recruiting Officer (1988) and Irina Platt in Murmuring Judges by David Hare (1991), both at the National Theatre, and in 1995 she acted in Venice Preserv'd at the Almeida Theatre. Her film roles include Selina in Under Suspicion (1991), Sarah Johnson in Peter's Friends (1992), Camille in Still Crazy (1998), and Miss James in Peggy Su! (1998). and considered moving to the United States in the hope of more regular acting opportunities. In 2007, she co-founded the Gale Theatre of London and Barbados, appearing as Ruth in Blithe Spirit in the same year. She also co-founded the Caribbean Unity Theatre in Antigua in 2008.