Emma Schillage

Emma Schillage (they/them) is a queer Southern Gothic playwright, actor, director, and theatre educator based in New York and New Orleans. Schillage earned their BA in Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans ('19) and MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University ('23). Fascinated by the macabre from a young age, Emma's writing incorporates elements of horror, whimsy, and teenage angst. They often write about resilience, childhood, mental illness, and the horror/wonder of growing up in the Deep South. Their work has been produced by The 24-Hour Plays: Nationals, Red Bull Theater, the cell Theatre, Breaking and Entering Theatre Co., and Southern Rep Theatre. Their play, COCKROACHES, was a semi-finalist in the Austin Film Festival Playwriting Competition, long-listed for The Seattle...

Emma Schillage (they/them) is a queer Southern Gothic playwright, actor, director, and theatre educator based in New York and New Orleans. Schillage earned their BA in Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans ('19) and MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University ('23). Fascinated by the macabre from a young age, Emma's writing incorporates elements of horror, whimsy, and teenage angst. They often write about resilience, childhood, mental illness, and the horror/wonder of growing up in the Deep South. Their work has been produced by The 24-Hour Plays: Nationals, Red Bull Theater, the cell Theatre, Breaking and Entering Theatre Co., and Southern Rep Theatre. Their play, COCKROACHES, was a semi-finalist in the Austin Film Festival Playwriting Competition, long-listed for The Seattle Public Theater's Distillery New Work Festival, and was a Finalist in the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. They are currently one of the cell's 2024 resident artists. You can find them @emma_schillage on social media.

Scripts

Cockroaches

by Emma Schillage

Synopsis

Cockroaches is a Southern Gothic dark comedy about three sisters trapped in their childhood home grappling with their mother's most recent suicide attempt. Momma has been acting strange since coming home from the hospital, causing eldest daughter, Jenny, to come home from college, middle child, Charlie, to act out, and youngest child, Sissy, to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Meanwhile, monsters are lurking...

Cockroaches is a Southern Gothic dark comedy about three sisters trapped in their childhood home grappling with their mother's most recent suicide attempt. Momma has been acting strange since coming home from the hospital, causing eldest daughter, Jenny, to come home from college, middle child, Charlie, to act out, and youngest child, Sissy, to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Meanwhile, monsters are lurking, ready to consume every bit of innocence in their path. As their mother's humanity fades, the sisters must learn to care for themselves and each other before it is too late. Cockroaches explores how we create monsters, survive them, punish them, and learn from them in the wake of disaster. Inspired by Southern Gothic tales and loosely based on Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis, the play features three young female characters filled with rage, joy, and fierce humor as they navigate a dark and treacherous world.

Rotten is the Flesh

by Emma Schillage

Synopsis

When three best friends try to summon their friend from the dead, they are instead met with the god of dead girls. She wants to make a trade. Except it isn't the kind of trade they were expecting.

When three best friends try to summon their friend from the dead, they are instead met with the god of dead girls. She wants to make a trade. Except it isn't the kind of trade they were expecting.

god and GIRL

by Emma Schillage

Synopsis

High school student Eva is excited (and a little terrified) for her first-ever March For Life Trip to Washington, D.C. It is her first time on an overnight trip away from home, away from her family, and surrounded by the people they only go to school with. But the March isn't the only thing on her mind. Her crush, Mason, is also on the trip, and Eva is determined to make a connection with him before the trip is...

High school student Eva is excited (and a little terrified) for her first-ever March For Life Trip to Washington, D.C. It is her first time on an overnight trip away from home, away from her family, and surrounded by the people they only go to school with. But the March isn't the only thing on her mind. Her crush, Mason, is also on the trip, and Eva is determined to make a connection with him before the trip is over. But as soon as they get to Washington, D.C., a lot seems to go wrong. Not only is Eva rooming with high school "it girls" Keri and Maddie, but the March itself seems to take a turn for the worse, making the students question and grapple with everything they thought they knew. To help her navigate it all is Eva's confidant, God, herself. GOD AND GIRL is a story about young adulthood and how we navigate complex topics when no one seems to have the answers. It is a story about sex, motherhood, girlhood, and self-actualization. It's a love letter to my adolescent self, to you, and maybe to God, too. We'll see.

The Purgatory for Women Who Commit Suicide [A 10-Minute Play]

by Emma Schillage

Synopsis

Ophelia has lost someone. Everyone has in The Purgatory for Women Who Commit Suicide. But before they can move on to whatever is next, the women must find closure. And how do they do this? By casting spells of course! The Purgatory for Women Who Commit Suicide forces you to rethink what it means to be a hysterical woman.

Ophelia has lost someone. Everyone has in The Purgatory for Women Who Commit Suicide. But before they can move on to whatever is next, the women must find closure. And how do they do this? By casting spells of course! The Purgatory for Women Who Commit Suicide forces you to rethink what it means to be a hysterical woman.

Dreams Take Place in Outer Space [A 10-Minute Play]

by Emma Schillage

Synopsis

After the loss of her Big Dipper, Little Dipper finds an unlikely friend in the Astronaut who crashed outside her bedroom window. Maybe it's fate or maybe he was sent to her. Together they navigate the aftermath of grief and love lost.

After the loss of her Big Dipper, Little Dipper finds an unlikely friend in the Astronaut who crashed outside her bedroom window. Maybe it's fate or maybe he was sent to her. Together they navigate the aftermath of grief and love lost.