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 currently on staff at the Public Theater as the inaugural Directing Fellow, where she is directing the world premiere of Else Went's play INITIATIVE.

She has recently directed workshops of Else’s plays DEGENERATES (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, including: Romeo and Juliet (Tour, Hudson Valley Shakespeare;) Much Ado About Nothing (Opera House Arts;) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Playhouse on Park;) Richard III (Scranton Shakespeare Festival;) and recent work on Two Noble Kinsmen supported by a commission from Hudson Valley Shakespeare and a residency with Public Shakespeare Initiative. She and Will Frears have been working on Hamlet since 2021 at Mercury Store and Coffey St. Studio.

Emma is an alum of the Drama League Directors Project (Classical Directing Fellowship, First Stage Residency;) SDCF Observership Program, and the FAIR Program at OSF. She was a 2023 Finalist for the Barbara Whitman Award. Emma taught Shakespeare at Marymount Manhattan College from 2024-2025. She is a Member of SDC, and she is represented by WME. Find her on Substack.