Emma S. Rund

Emma S. Rund

BS in theatrical studies, playwriting/dramaturgy from Ball State University

Royalties for all plays can be negotiated.
Contact: emmarund@gmail.com

Plays

  • The Bushwick Girls
    The Bushwick Girls intermingles stories of immigration in 1949 and 2017 to explore the meaning of home and family.

    In 2017, a young Dreamer, Gabriella, and her unlikely friend, her landlady, stumble upon an old wooden box filled with bits and bobs from a young woman who lived in their house back in 1949. Gabriella embarks on a journey into the past where we meet three young migrant women from...
    The Bushwick Girls intermingles stories of immigration in 1949 and 2017 to explore the meaning of home and family.

    In 2017, a young Dreamer, Gabriella, and her unlikely friend, her landlady, stumble upon an old wooden box filled with bits and bobs from a young woman who lived in their house back in 1949. Gabriella embarks on a journey into the past where we meet three young migrant women from completely different backgrounds who are quickly presented with terrifying news: the house they currently live in is being repossessed by the bank. These young women overcome their differences to fight for the house that has become their home.
  • To Fix a Dinosaur
    Two strangers running from their realities collide in a hospital stairwell. A lovingly constructed Lego dinosaur crashes to the ground between them and shatters. Can they fix the dinosaur, and in doing so, can they help each other turn and face their fears?
  • My Big Brother Fights Monsters
    Embarking on a project to declutter her life, Emma comes face to face with boxes of her brother Jacob’s things, which pull her into long-forgotten memories. My Big Brother Fights Monsters is a one-woman show that explores the playwright’s relationship with Jacob, who lost his battle with cancer at just 9 years old, leaving 5-year-old Emmie without her best friend. Now, Emma must ask: if these items don’t spark...
    Embarking on a project to declutter her life, Emma comes face to face with boxes of her brother Jacob’s things, which pull her into long-forgotten memories. My Big Brother Fights Monsters is a one-woman show that explores the playwright’s relationship with Jacob, who lost his battle with cancer at just 9 years old, leaving 5-year-old Emmie without her best friend. Now, Emma must ask: if these items don’t spark joy can she thank them and say goodbye, as Marie Kondo suggests, or can they somehow add up to the brother she lost?.
  • Rosemary & Time
    Rosemary & Time is a not-so-traditional living room drama in which Rosemary, a loving wife and mother of two, tries her best to bring her family together for a perfect Thanksgiving dinner, even while the world around her inexplicably keeps shifting. One moment her daughter Sophia is thirty years old swatting away Rosemary's gentle prodding that she should settle down and have some babies, and suddenly...
    Rosemary & Time is a not-so-traditional living room drama in which Rosemary, a loving wife and mother of two, tries her best to bring her family together for a perfect Thanksgiving dinner, even while the world around her inexplicably keeps shifting. One moment her daughter Sophia is thirty years old swatting away Rosemary's gentle prodding that she should settle down and have some babies, and suddenly, mid-conversation she's seventeen and screaming that Rosemary missed her poetry reading. Rosemary's topsy-turvy world keeps turning until it tips entirely on its head, revealing to Rosemary exactly why her Thanksgiving dinner is so strange this year.
  • Endlessly Failing to Save the World: Based on a True Story
    In 1989, after immigrating from Hungary and searching for four years for her dream job as a scientist in the U.S., Dr. Katalin Kariko begins work as a research assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Here Katalin submits her first grant application proposing work to establish mRNA-based gene therapy.

    Seven applicants applied for six grants, and Katalin is the one rejected....
    In 1989, after immigrating from Hungary and searching for four years for her dream job as a scientist in the U.S., Dr. Katalin Kariko begins work as a research assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Here Katalin submits her first grant application proposing work to establish mRNA-based gene therapy.

    Seven applicants applied for six grants, and Katalin is the one rejected.

    This is just the first of many rejections, and Katalin will spend the next couple of decades fighting for the ear of the scientific community.

    Katalin imagines a future where mRNA is used to create insulin for diabetics, fight cancer cells, and even extend the life span of human cells. What Katalin doesn’t imagine, is that in a little more than 20 years, a virus will sweep the globe, wiping out over 3 million people, and her mRNA discovery will be used in the vaccines that will save several million lives.

    This play will follow Katalin through her 30 years of fighting for the chance to make a difference. No one believes in her mRNA-based gene therapy. No one will publish her papers or give her the grant money she needs, until she becomes the unlikely hero of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now we’re listening.

    I hope this play will inspire young scientists and spark the possibility of change in those who don’t believe in the safety or efficacy of the vaccine.
  • The Goddess and The Girl
    In this 10-minute chapter of The Goddess series, fifteen-year-old Robyn sits alone in her room where her brother’s friend has left her feeling violated and confused among other things. The last thing Robyn expects right now is for Persephone, Artemis, and Daphne, three figures she recognizes from Greek mythology, to appear in her room to help her make sense of her new world, one they all share.
  • Make America Super
    Two women meet at the bus stop on the morning after the election, and they discover they both woke up with superpowers.
  • Ellison Grants a Wish
    This cute holiday 10-minute peaks in on three of Santa's elves sorting through the North Pole mail when they discover a terrible mistake they made last Christmas when granting young Arcadia Bishop's wish. Now they must do their best to correct the mistake without breaking the strict rules of Christmas magic or they will ruin this little girl's holidays forever.
  • On The Tracks
    Sadie, a recent college graduate, stepped right on the dating train as soon as she arrived in Chicago, and she quickly learned a few things: the train moves fast, it stops often, and if you’re not holding onto something it will knock you on your ass. After a particularly terrible date, Sadie confides in a stranger across the tracks. As she reflects on the past year of terrible and wonderful dates, Sadie might...
    Sadie, a recent college graduate, stepped right on the dating train as soon as she arrived in Chicago, and she quickly learned a few things: the train moves fast, it stops often, and if you’re not holding onto something it will knock you on your ass. After a particularly terrible date, Sadie confides in a stranger across the tracks. As she reflects on the past year of terrible and wonderful dates, Sadie might learn more about herself than she bargained for.
  • Personal Library
    Have you ever wanted to escape from the real world for a while by diving into a story? Megan does it all the time. In fact, she never leaves her house, living vicariously through books and speaking only to her best friend, Claire. When her concerned ex-boyfriend shows up at the door, he unearths the trauma that forced Megan inside in the first place. Over the course of the play, she has to navigate that...
    Have you ever wanted to escape from the real world for a while by diving into a story? Megan does it all the time. In fact, she never leaves her house, living vicariously through books and speaking only to her best friend, Claire. When her concerned ex-boyfriend shows up at the door, he unearths the trauma that forced Megan inside in the first place. Over the course of the play, she has to navigate that frightening place between reality and fantasy to find a way to survive in the real world.

    With Jonah back in her life, Megan's escapes into her fantasy worlds are getting darker. Captain, the monster from her past, is showing up more and more frequently, and she's powerless to stop him. Claire and Jonah are trying to introduce her back into the outside world, but ulterior motives lead them to push too hard too fast. The results might be catastrophic.
  • It All Comes Out
    Margaret Howard is 23 years old, living on her own in Perth, Australia. Back home in Indiana her mother, Beth, tends to her home, her husband and her faith. Maggie and Beth maintain their relationship over the phone, but Maggie is hiding something. When Maggie meets the love of her life, Rose Curtis, she must finally tell her very Catholic parents that she’s gay. A coming out story with a twist, It All Comes...
    Margaret Howard is 23 years old, living on her own in Perth, Australia. Back home in Indiana her mother, Beth, tends to her home, her husband and her faith. Maggie and Beth maintain their relationship over the phone, but Maggie is hiding something. When Maggie meets the love of her life, Rose Curtis, she must finally tell her very Catholic parents that she’s gay. A coming out story with a twist, It All Comes Out is about love, religion, and forgiveness. What comes first: religion or family, and what happens when you and your loved ones disagree? A stage split between their two living rooms provides a window into the beginning of a new relationship, and the possible end of an old one.
  • Two Mermaids in a Catholic Bathroom
    Best friends, Abby and Eleanor, discover maybe they’re more than friends in the bathroom of their Catholic high school.
  • Her
    ADAH WALKER, a new adult in the post-grad world, has been living with a monster under her bed—one with cold rotting flesh and deep oozing cuts in its skin, but for years now it’s been quiet. It’s not until Adah tries to fill her loneliness by inviting someone new under her covers that the monster stirs from its dormancy to ask the questions Adah is too afraid to ask herself.
  • Dancing Light in a Night Sky
    Sam and Georgia are on the romantic adventure of a lifetime to see the northern lights, but due to a housing mix-up, they end up sharing a tent with a third traveler, an old woman named Dee who won’t stop asking questions. Maybe it’s Dee or maybe it’s the miracle of nature, but something gets Georgia thinking. About everything. And she can’t stop.
  • Spare Tire
    A blown tire. A lonely country road. Five best friends, and one of them is a murderer. On their way to festivities and fun on fall break, these five friends blow a tire and find themselves stranded. While one friend calls for help, another drops dead. The remaining four are forced to navigate these terrifying questions head on: Do you know your friends as well as you think you do? What happens when something...
    A blown tire. A lonely country road. Five best friends, and one of them is a murderer. On their way to festivities and fun on fall break, these five friends blow a tire and find themselves stranded. While one friend calls for help, another drops dead. The remaining four are forced to navigate these terrifying questions head on: Do you know your friends as well as you think you do? What happens when something snaps? Where is the line between ambition and insanity?