Wu Zetian, the only woman in Chinese history to rule as emperor in her own name, has been judged by history for centuries. What happens when she finally answers back?

Now, she is summoned to stand trial before history.

From Mei and Meiniang, names given to shape the woman she was expected to become, to Zhao, a name she created for herself, Her Name traces her journey from being named and defined by others to claiming the right to define herself.

As the trial unfolds, Wu Zhao confronts accusations surrounding her ambition, her rise to power, her relationships and the way history has chosen to remember her. The voices of her daughter, Princess Taiping, and her student, Shangguan Wan’er, complicate that defence further, asking not only what Wu Zhao changed, but what remained unchanged for the women who came after her.

Told in English and rooted in Chinese history, Her Name is a contemporary solo performance created and performed by Aniya He about names, ambition, gender and public power. Through Wu Zhao’s story, it asks why women in power are still so often remembered differently from the men who hold it.

When history remembers a woman in power, what does it choose to remember?