Emma Rosa Went is a Brooklyn-based theatre director who makes new and classic-text plays. Her work is heartfelt, intimate, collaborative, and sexy. She is on staff at the Public as the inaugural Directing Fellow, where she recently directed the world-premiere of Else Went's 5-hour epic Initiative, described by Sara Holdren in New York Mag as “bracing and compassionate” and “profoundly moving,” and listed by both Holdren and Jackson McHenry as #5 of Vulture’s Best Plays of 2025.

She has also recently been developing Else’s plays Degenerates (Playwrights Horizons, Public Theater, Ars Nova, NYTW;) An Oxford Man (Blackburn Prize Special Commendation, Pacific Playwrights Festival @ South Coast Rep; Manhattan Theatre Club;) and I Am The Most Beautiful Bird (BTB @ Playwrights Horizons; Mercury Store) as well as Else’s audio-play 73, SK for Playing On Air.

Emma has directed about a dozen of Shakespeare's plays. Upcoming in 2026, she will direct As You Like It for the Mobile Unit, bringing free Shakespeare to all five boroughs. Recent includes: Romeo and Juliet (Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Tour;) Much Ado About Nothing (Opera House Arts) and ongoing work on Hamlet with Will Frears at Mercury Store and Coffey St. Studio. In 2023, Emma received a commission from HVS and a residency from Public Shakespeare Initiative for her work on Two Noble Kinsmen.

Emma is a frequent lead-artist at Mercury Store, and an alum of the Drama League (Classical Directing Fellowship, First Stage Residency;) SDCF Observership Program, and OSF FAIR Program. She was a 2023 Finalist for the Barbara Whitman Award. She has taught or guest-lectured at Marymount Manhattan College, Brooklyn College, CU Boulder, & the Freeman Studio.

Emma is a Member of SDC, and she is represented by WME. // Substack.