MA International Dramaturgy

dramaturg | aea stage manager

Emma Bilderback

 

News

 
 

Reading at Cape May Stage

I was fortunate enough to participate as a reader and dramaturg for a reading of Karen Zacarías’ Native Gardens directed by Roy Steinberg. An underhanded political, botanical comedy about two couples in a DC suburb and what does it mean to care for the land.

Second term as co-vice president

It is my greatest pleasure that the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) invited me to remain as Co-Vice President of Anti-Oppression for a second term. Under the new LMDA President, Sarah Freeman, I will be joined by Canadian director-dramaturg Kodie Rollan of Cromatica Theatre. Please visit LMDA’s website for more information about the conference and the organization.

New musical!

I am thrilled to have returned to SheLA for a second year, but this time to dramaturg one of their new musicals this season, Ink and Paint by Danielle Moore. Find the program for the musical here. The musical chronicles the journeys of several early woman artists of the Walt Disney Company. And remember, it started with ink and paint!

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.”

HIRE ME TO READ YOUR PLAY

Want to give dramaturgy a test run? Submit a reading request on my Fiverr gig and we can work together, and you can see how the process works for yourself! Just send in your play and I will handle the rest.

 

The Journey

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.

 
 

Professional Affiliations

Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas | Executive Committee | Co-Vice President of Anti-Oppression (2022-present)

Selected dramaturgical credits

Ink and Paint book, music, and lyrics by Danielle E. Moore, presented by SheLA Festival

Greta and the Empty Heart book, music, and lyrics by Lilla Woodbury, presented by the NY Foundation for the Arts
YELLA JACK by Donna Latham
Lilith by Paige Goodwin
The Secrets of Birds by Lynda Crawford

Long Pig Kitchen by Rebecca Kane (I also directed)

Supplemental dramaturgies

A Response to John McWhorter’s New York Times Op-Ed — | Medium, 2024

Los Angeles Theater is Where Hollywood Goes to Feed Its Soul | Article for smArt Magazine by Lighthouse (defunct), 2023

F-O-R-M and Function | Article for smART Magazine by Lighthouse, 2023

Looking to the past as we look to the future: COVID lessons from the classics | Panel for Dramaturging the Phoenix, 2020.

Aeschylus Says Black Lives Matter | Essay for Dramaturging the Phoenix, 2020.

The ReTAGS Podcast | In association with the University of Cape Town, this documented the devising process for Antigone: not quite/quiet presented at the Baxter Theater in Cape Town, South Africa, 2019

Education

univeristiet van amsterdam,

Amsterdam, netherlands

MA Arts and Culture, International Dramaturgy
Graduated January 2020

 

Marymount manhattan College

New York, NY

BA Theatre Arts, Performance
Graduated June 2016