Theatre is a way to bring people together in a non-confrontational way. You could do theatre as a political act and say it’s a political act; you can do theatre as an art and bring people together in the room to have that experience while people are being entertained and reacting emotionally; that they react and get them thinking and hopefully move them to take action these days.

Emma Palzere-Rae is a playwright, actor, director, producer and non-profit administrator. Emma spent 15 years as part of the NYC theater community, where she began producing one-woman plays and founded the Womenkind Festival. Over its ten-year run, Womenkind presented nearly 75 different performers, mainly original works. She is the Associate Director at Artreach, Inc. (Norwich, CT), and has also held the position of Artistic Director for Plays for Living (NYC), a touring company dedicated to social change, where she also wrote and developed plays for the repertoire.

Theater has the power to heal — bringing people together for a common shared experience, to laugh, to cry, to learn and, perhaps, to have a personal revelation or catharsis. Theater provides a space for personal and social change. Through my solo plays, I create theater that is a channel for that healing. 

Be Well Productions is receiving a grant to develop a new work! Thanks to @CultureSECT for all their work in creating this funding opportunity for our local artists and organizations.

Emma’s plays include “Aunt Hattie’s House”, about what compelled Harriet Beecher Stowe to pen “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, and “Live from the Milky Way… It’s Gilda Radner!” Her current projects include “The Woodhull Project” about 1872 Presidential candidate, Victoria Woodhull; and the two-act “Finders Weepers”. Her one-woman plays tour throughout the country under the banner of Be Well Productions. Emma is passionate about nurturing theater artists and co-founded The Way of the Labyrinth Playwright’s Retreat, held every June since 2015 in southeastern Connecticut. Emma has also been an adjunct professor in the Arts Administration program in the Dramatic Arts Department at the University of Connecticut. Emma serves on the steering committee of the League of Professional Theatre Women (CT Chapter) and the boards of the CT Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, New London Arts Council, and East Lynne Theater Company. She is also a member of Actors Equity Association and the Dramatists Guild, where she serves as the regional representative for New England-West. Emma holds a B.F.A in Acting with minors in Creative Writing and Speech from Emerson College, Boston. In 2021, Emma was awarded an Artist Fellowship from the CT Office of the Arts.

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