Emily Russell

Emily Russell (she/they) is a scholar and writer whose work explores the relational and interpersonal consequences of life under state power and capital. She is passionate about the ways people break and build beyond those structures. Recent work has been supported and developed by the Sewanee Writers Conference (2026) and the Lambda Literary Writers Retreat (2026). Her play 'BEAT' was developed and produced at Playfest (University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance) and received the Hopwood Award for Drama. Short play 'Fire and Ice' was developed at Blank Space Workshop (University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance) and produced by Dragon Productions Theatre Company in the San Francisco Bay Area. 'and for your last breath?' was developed with Dragon Productions...

Emily Russell (she/they) is a scholar and writer whose work explores the relational and interpersonal consequences of life under state power and capital. She is passionate about the ways people break and build beyond those structures. Recent work has been supported and developed by the Sewanee Writers Conference (2026) and the Lambda Literary Writers Retreat (2026). Her play 'BEAT' was developed and produced at Playfest (University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance) and received the Hopwood Award for Drama. Short play 'Fire and Ice' was developed at Blank Space Workshop (University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance) and produced by Dragon Productions Theatre Company in the San Francisco Bay Area. 'and for your last breath?' was developed with Dragon Productions Theatre Company, produced at Left Edge Theatre, and featured in MFA showcase productions at the University of California, Irvine, and Bloomsburg University. Emily's nonfiction appears in Scalawag Magazine, War Resisters, Political Violence at a Glance, Baltic Worlds, The Bold Italic, and The Michigan Daily, among others. Emily completed a Ph.D. in Political Science at Stanford University as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar, where she studied playwriting.

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Scripts

and for your last breath?

by Emily Russell

9
Cast Size
2
Genre
dark comedy,
drama,
political

When two 20-somethings wake up one September morning to a red-orange sky outside their Berkeley apartment, they find themselves caught in a double-bind: with wildfires pushing them to evacuate while COVID forces them to stay in, they contemplate what it means to face the absurd, apocalyptic world together, when the simple act of breathing has become a fraught task.

When two 20-somethings wake up one September morning to a red-orange sky outside their Berkeley apartment, they find themselves caught in a double-bind: with wildfires pushing them to evacuate while COVID forces them to stay in, they contemplate what it means to face the absurd, apocalyptic world together, when the simple act of breathing has become a fraught task.

BEAT

by Emily Russell

1
Cast Size
8
Genre
drama,
political,
tragedy

HOPWOOD AWARD FOR DRAMATIC WRITING, 2020

It's 2020 in middle America. BEAT meets at the confluence of life-giving and life-taking, following the interconnected stories of daughters, mothers, friends, and the ones in-between. As they strategize for a less gun-violent world, they become recipients of different forms of violences, enacted by strangers, spouses, and the state. What lives are protected under the...

HOPWOOD AWARD FOR DRAMATIC WRITING, 2020

It's 2020 in middle America. BEAT meets at the confluence of life-giving and life-taking, following the interconnected stories of daughters, mothers, friends, and the ones in-between. As they strategize for a less gun-violent world, they become recipients of different forms of violences, enacted by strangers, spouses, and the state. What lives are protected under the guise of "the right to life?" or the right to guns? What does it mean to be the ones who survive? Trauma and its politicization is explored in this story of motherhood, sisterhoods, and survivors.

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Fire and Ice

by Emily Russell

9
Cast Size
2
Genre
adventure,
comedy,
immersive,
political,
romantic comedy

When an American human rights researcher meets an Icelandic local in a geothermal hotspring, the two must decide whether to take a plunge: into the cold, the unknown, and the unlikely.

When an American human rights researcher meets an Icelandic local in a geothermal hotspring, the two must decide whether to take a plunge: into the cold, the unknown, and the unlikely.