We can heal. I think it’s really important to be in control of what we’re taking in so that we don’t feel that we have to worry…that we can feel like we can live in our power, we can do things, as artists, that will hopefully push the needle and change the culture and make people think more deeply about what THEY can do if they’re not artists.
Playwright, Dramaturg, and Teacher Emma Goldman-Sherman (she/they) is an autistic, gender-dysphoric, queer, Jewish, feminist playwright living in New York City. Emma Goldman-Sherman is a playwright who likes to challenge audiences in terms of what we think a play can be.
Award-winning playwright Emma Goldman-Sherman creates timeless yet relevant, feminist work that engages on multiple levels to heal what our culture denies. Emma believes in the power of theatre to offer healing and agency to audiences, and their plays tend to be about daunting subjects like war, trauma (including rape, abuse and domestic violence), identity and the conflict in the Middle East. These subjects have touched Emma’s life in various ways, so their work is quite personal even if it isn’t always autobiographical.
Emma’s first memory of live theatre was Peter Pan at Philadelphia’s Playhouse in the Park in the round. At age five, this was life-changing – to be able to help save Tinker Bell with collective applause. She is compelled by the power of theatre to confer healing and agency on audiences.
Emma builds from her own experience as a trauma survivor with chronic illness, a parent and citizen of the world. She has documented human rights abuses and writes as if female experience matters. Rarely naturalistic her work is inspired by visual artists and philosophers. She uses myth (making new/deconstructing known), metaphor, and language/ composition. She expects a strong collaborative approach. Though she’s broken the 4th wall, these days she’s extending the 4th wall to include the audience in new ways.
FUKT was recently live-streamed and performed 0/27 – 11/13/22 at The Tank in NYC! More info The Tank in NYC! Their work has been final listed at BAPF, Unicorn (x3), Risk is This at Cutting Ball (x3), Campfire, Bechdel, and Henley Rose. Counting in Sha’ab is available as a podcast on PlayingonAir.org and Abraham’s Daughters is available as a podcast at TheParsnipShip.com. They are working on a collaboration with Experimental Bitch Presents called Tanya’s Lit Clit which was workshopped at The Tank October 2021 and the Park Avenue Armory in 2022.
Grief Dialogues’ vision is to erase the stigma surrounding dying, death, and grief. Using theatre, visual art, film, music, podcasts, poetry, and narrative, Grief Dialogues opens new conversations between grievers, those with terminal or chronic illness, and their health care providers and caregivers. We believe out of art comes understanding, compassion, and empathy for all involved in grief. Grief Dialogues was created by Elizabeth Coplan, Emma is a contributor.
You and your donation help more people look at their grief through a creative lens. We encourage you to designate your donation to the Grief Dialogues program or project that speaks to you directly.
It’s because of you that we create the podcasts, write and produce plays and films, and most importantly, share your stories, poetry, art, and music. Hopefully this work provides you the confirmation you are not alone in your grief and the satisfaction that you are expanding this supportive community.
Brave Space began when I began to write my personal truths openly for an audience. I stepped into a Brave Space I had to create for myself. Now Brave Space exists to support and encourage the female+ voice. By this I mean to include trans females and AFAB (assigned female at birth) trans males, non-binary and non-gender conforming individuals. In 2022, it is still incredibly necessary for women+ to have a space of our own. Brave Space is that and so much more. Brave Space is a purposefully anti-racist space where each individual is honored for their own voice.
Writer/Coach www.BraveSpace.online
Emma is produced on 4 continents, their work has been seen at Golden Thread, WP Theatre, New Georges, UNESCO’s City of Literature Festival in Dunedin (NZ), EST/LA, Dixon Place, The Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival, The New Ohio, Manhattan Theatre Source, All Out Arts at CSV, Circle Rep Lab, Guild Hall, New Circle Theatre Co, The Bernie Wohl Center, The Chain, The Wild Project, Capital Fringe, Alumnae Theatre Toronto, Short + Sweet Gold Coast and Sydney (AU), Seoul, Sasebo, Renegade N.O.W. Festival, The Loft at Marble Collegiate Church, Astoria First Presbyterian’s Brown Tree Theatre, Union Theological Seminary, The Museum of Jewish Heritage, Yiddishe Folksbiene Theatre, Greenbriar Valley Theatre, Canal Cafe Theatre (London), Camilla’s, The Culture Project, and others.
Emma is published by Brooklyn Publishers, Smith Scripts (UK), Next Stage Press, Smith & Kraus and Applause.
They earned an MFA from University of Iowa where they received the Norman Felton Fellowship and won the Richard Maibaum Award for plays addressing social justice for Antigone’s Sister and received a Jane Chambers Award for Perfect Women. Residencies at Millay Colony for the Arts, Ragdale and twice at WordBridge where they returned a third year as a dramaturg. Emma has taught and been a dramaturg at the Great Plains Theatre Conference (2015, 2016). Emma was the Resident Dramaturg at 29th Street Playwrights Collective where they ran the Write Now Workshop from 2015 – 2021.
Emma created and runs the global Zoom offering http://www.BraveSpace.online for all kinds of creatives. Member: Honor Roll!, LPTW, LMDA and the Dramatists Guild.
Her work is available at NPX: https://newplayexchange.org/users/1088/emma-goldman-sherman
ABRAHAM’S DAUGHTERSis now a podcast on TheParsnipShip.com – listen here: https://www.theparsnipship.com/#listen-now
COUNTING IN SHA’AB about a community in Iraq is now a podcast on PlayingOnAir.org – listen here: https://playingonair.org/new-releases/counting-in-shaab
https://www.facebook.com/emma.goldmansherman
Twitter @EmmaGSherman
Instagram @emmaintheatre
Brave Space, where I support other creatives weekly https://www.bravespace.online
The website for FUKT, my most recent play https://www.fukttheplay.com/
First Online with Fran 
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