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 directed the world premiere of Else Went's 5-hour epic INITIATIVE, which Sara Holdren in New York Mag called “bracing and compassionate” and “profoundly moving,” and was listed in the top five of Vulture’s Best Plays of 2025.

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 (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. Emma received a commission from Hudson Valley Shakespeare and a residency from Public Shakespeare Initiative for her work on Two Noble Kinsmen. In 2026, she will direct As You Like It for the Public’s Mobile Unit, bringing free Shakespeare to all five boroughs.

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.