Playwright Testimonials
Paige Goodwin: “Emma gave me devastatingly good feedback.”
Donna Latham: “In working with Emma, I felt supported, challenged, and totally free to experiment.”
Lynda Crawford: “She was very easy to talk with and immensely supportive of the play.”
Moments in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, South Africa
Emma Bilderback
I am a graduate from the Universiteit van Amsterdam as a major in International Dramaturgy.
I am currently based in New Brunswick, NJ.
My time in the Netherlands was the most formative academic experience for me, and allowed me to broaden my horizons as a theatre-maker in ways I never would have if I had stayed within the United States.
I was also able, during this time, to spend a few months in South Africa for research related to my graduate thesis. South Africa was one of the best times I could have asked for as a theatre researcher, as I learned about things I loved in a whole new light. While there I was able to hone skills related to researching postcolonial narratives, their impact on the arts and on subjugated populations.
I received my Bachelor’s in New York City at Marymount Manhattan College. As such, I have some expertise in musical theatre and American Realism. But my graduate degree solidified my expertise in Greek drama, as well as feminist and queer theatre. Genre fluency is just one of the perks of being a dramaturg.
My theater training began in earnest at age 14 when I attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, but my love for the art is so deep and lifelong I cannot identify a true genesis point. Maybe it was The Lion King in New York at age 9, maybe it was the production of Alice in Wonderland I performed in at age 8, but here I am, a full-grown woman with a BA in Theater Performance and an MA in International Dramaturgy. And what I want most is to make the art, your art, the best it possibly can be.
Dramaturgy is many things, because narrative can be many things. It is the design of information, it also the academic side of the arts. Its core purpose is accessibility and clarity. Making sure your audience knows what you want to say, and making sure your performers can say it with confidence.