During her long, solitary life, the celebrated American poet Emily Dickinson had everything a young woman could ever ask for — but “everything” wasn’t necessarily what she wanted.

Due to her father’s powerful positions on the General Court of Massachusetts, Emily was able to attend the best schools and live the life of an upper class young woman.

However, since her father, Edward Dickinson, had the change purse, Emily was required to follow his guidance and live her life the way he thought it should be lived.

From the day she came into the world, Emily was expected to follow the religious beliefs and values of her father without argument. As she grew older, Edward began to censor the books Emily read because of the possibility that they might draw her away from the faith.

For the most part, she followed her father’s advice during her childhood years, however, in 1848, the poet returned from the seminary to Amherst to begin her life of seclusion.

“She withdrew into her house and garden,” said Jane Cox, associate professor of theater. “No one knows what she looked like as she got older. She didn’t consider herself beautiful. But her heart and soul were beautiful.”

Cox played the part of Emily in William Luce’s one-woman play, “The Belle of Amherst,” in a performance of the play nine years ago, and is currently playing the part again in the Ames Community Theater’s production of the show.

The play is a dramatic look at the life and writings of this great poet. Cox said the character of Emily is around 53 years old at the start of the play, but throughout the performance, Emily’s earlier years are played out sporadically as she has flashbacks.

“She acts out bits of her childhood with her father,” Cox said.

Being the only actress in a one-woman show has its benefits, such as not having to work with the schedules of lots of people or deal with extravagant scenery.

The drawbacks include factors of endurance. Cox said because she’s the only actress on stage for the entire show, she has to pace herself.

“It’s like running a marathon because you have to save something for the end,” Cox said. “You have to make the first part interesting and the end interesting, but you can’t wear yourself out in between. If [the play] is not successful, it’s your fault.”

One-woman performances aren’t new to Cox. In the past she has participated in one-woman performances during which she has played composer Clara Schumann and woman’s rights activist Carrie Chapman Catt.

“I think it’s interesting to pick someone and see what makes them tick and what their lives were like,” Cox said. “I’m always interested to see what leads people to push themselves and excel.”

While she has worked on “Belle of Amherst,” Cox said the most intriguing thing she has learned about Emily is her amazing endurance under less-than-favorable odds.

“[Emily] felt that she was born to sing or write poetry,” Cox said. “She kept doing this with next to no encouragement.”

During her lifetime, Emily wrote over 2,000 poems, but only seven were published. Cox said after Emily’s death, one of the poet’s friends found a bunch of her old poems, and worked to get them published.

Emily’s perseverance during her life is one of the things that makes “Belle” so intriguing. And Cox’s performance of the role has proven to be intriguing to residents outside of Ames.

At the Iowa/South Dakota American Association of Community Theaters festival, which was held Mar. 11-13 in Sioux City, “The Belle of Amherst” won Best of Show, Best Set Design and the “outstanding actor” award went to Cox.

Because the play won Best of Show, it advanced to the regional contest, which was held in Chanute, Kan.

Carole Horowitz, publicist for the Ames Community Theater, said “Belle of Amherst” didn’t win at regional contest, which was held April 9-11; however, the play held its own against 20-member casts of theater professionals.

For the next two weeks, “Belle of Amherst” will hold its own in Ames during weekend performances on April 16, 17, 23 and 24 at the ACTORS studio, 120 Abraham Dr., in Ames.

Tickets are $9 for students and $10 general admission.