Joely Richardson stars as poet Emily Dickinson in this one-person play made famous by Julie Harris

“Words are my life,” declares Emily Dickinson, portrayed by Joely Richardson in The Belle of Amherst. And indeed, words are what you get in this Off-Broadway revival of William Luce’s 1976 one-woman play, immortalized by actress Julie Harris in a Tony Award-winning turn that she later reprised for a PBS television production. Conveying the essence of the reclusive poet’s life via an interweaving of her poems, letters, diaries and pure imagination, it’s an incisive portrait that provides a marvelous vehicle for talented actresses. Richardson is accustomed to having big shoes to fill thanks to her lineage: she’s the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and director Tony Richardson; her grandparents are famed British thespians Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson; and her sister is the late Natasha Richardson. But her task here is particularly challenging, due to Harris’ luminous performance, which is cherished by anyone who saw it and is still available for viewing in home-entertainment formats. While comparisons are inevitable, Richardson — best known to American audiences for such films and television shows as The Patriot, The Tudors and Nip/Tuck — delivers a thoroughly credible if not revelatory performance. Her ethereal beauty, here somewhat disguised with brown hair tied in the back, doesn’t exactly recall the rather plain Dickinson revealed in vintage photographs. And it’s disconcerting to have a British actress playing that most American of poets.