Emma Swain

Emma Swain

Emma Swain (she/they) is a German-American playwright currently based in Minneapolis, MN, and originally from Grayslake, IL. She holds a B.A. in Music Theatre and English from Carthage College, where she got her start in playwriting with a staged reading of her first one-act, SECOND DRAFTS. Professionally, Emma's work has appeared in numerous readings and workshops across the USA, including New Match...
Emma Swain (she/they) is a German-American playwright currently based in Minneapolis, MN, and originally from Grayslake, IL. She holds a B.A. in Music Theatre and English from Carthage College, where she got her start in playwriting with a staged reading of her first one-act, SECOND DRAFTS. Professionally, Emma's work has appeared in numerous readings and workshops across the USA, including New Match Collective in San Diego, CA (WIRE TAPS), Orlando Repertory Theater (CINDERELLA: THE REAL STORY), Long Island University in New York City, NY (TEQUILA SUNRISE), Irma Marsh Middle School/UIL One-Act Competition (SECOND DRAFTS) and the Region III Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (WIRE TAPS), where she was also awarded the Region III John Cauble Short Play Award in January 2020.

She has also been published in Smith & Kraus' 2021 "Best Women's Monologues" anthology. Other plays include LEAVE A LIGHT ON, WHAT WE HAVE NOW (OR, VALENTINE'S-F**ING-DAY), STARDUST, and VOICES OF VOW (A VERBATIM THEATRE PROJECT). In-development plays include THE VACATION (a play about womanhood in post-Roe America), THE PAPIER-BLUMEN MEADOW (a German-English play for young audiences), TWO WRENS (a dystopian play), and TO ELINOR, WITH LOVE (a poetic queer love story), and MOTHERLAND/HOMELAND (six women race to write a Declaration of Independence before the men of the Revolutionary War).

Recently, Emma completed a one-year term at The Playwrights' Center as an Artistic and Administrative Apprentice for their 2022-2023 season.

RECENT NEWS:

- TEQUILA SUNRISE was produced in the Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival and will be published in 2024 as part of their anthology of short plays.
- SECOND DRAFTS was produced by the talented students of Irma Marsh Middle School in River Oaks, TX as their entry into the UIL One-Act Competition. Well done to the cast for their first place award!


Plays

  • Cinderella: The Real Story by Emma Swain
    Cast: 
    10–12
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: theater for young audiences, plays for young audiences + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, fable/folktale, young audiences, zoom
    Keyword: theater for young audiences, plays for young audiences, Cinderella, a different fairytale
    Written by Rayven Craft, John Maclay, Austin Nelson, and Emma Swain. Licensed through Theatrical Rights Worldwide.

    A new take on an old classic, this play tells the forgotten stories hidden in the fairy tale we all know so well. Funny, imaginative, and powerful, this play is specifically designed to be performed by young performers in a TYA setting and may be adapted to a virtual or in-person performance venue.
  • tequila sunrise by Emma Swain
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Relationships, college life + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, zoom
    Keyword: Relationships, college life, LGBTQ, midwest, Wisconsin
    near dawn on an old city bus. the sunrise is imminent.
    only college students, early-morning commuters, and people without ordinary sleep schedules are awake.
    carolyn and jodie are friends and maybe more.
    lalya is drunk.
    tequila and secrets don't mix well.
    and growing up is hard.
  • Leave a Light On by Emma Swain
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: drama, experimental + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: Dystopia, pandemic + 3 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, science fiction, zoom
    Keyword: Dystopia, pandemic, video call, light, memory
    A 15-Minute Play. Four people discover their links to one another are about to be severed by the spread of a mysterious illness that makes those infected gradually forget everything. They work to preserve what they treasure about humanity before it all slips away. 
  • Quiet Girls by Emma Swain
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: office, corporate America + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, political
    Keyword: office, corporate America, baby boomers, millennials, casual racism, January 6th Insurrection, domestic abuse, a role for an older actress
    Two women in an office separated by a few feet of threadbare carpet and a generational divide of fifty years must learn to find their common ground when the world around them suddenly feels more volatile than the coffee maker in the break room.
  • Second Drafts by Emma Swain
    Cast: 
    4–7
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: after death, ghosts + 3 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: after death, ghosts, coping with loss, coffee shop, family
    Belle, Amos, and Alice have all moved on from the losses they’ve suffered over the years— but somehow, they haven’t quite managed to let go. Told through a series of vignettes, this play weaves together three different love stories to explore how love and loss intertwine, how the past exists in the present, and how sometimes the things we miss the most are right in front of us.

    A school edition...
    Belle, Amos, and Alice have all moved on from the losses they’ve suffered over the years— but somehow, they haven’t quite managed to let go. Told through a series of vignettes, this play weaves together three different love stories to explore how love and loss intertwine, how the past exists in the present, and how sometimes the things we miss the most are right in front of us.

    A school edition is also available by individual inquiry.
  • What We Have Now (or, Valentine's-f**king-Day) by Emma Swain
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: love, coping with loss + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: love, coping with loss, LGBTQ, attempted suicide, pregnancy, Valentine's Day
    With Valentine’s Day peeking ominously over the horizon, Mallory, Shannon, Mark, and Ellen are just trying to distract themselves from their lives -- and their woefully tangled relationships -- as well as they can. But in the early morning hours of February 13th, someone they all know is rushed to the hospital -- and their tightly wound facades all start to unravel. On Valentine's Day, they all find...
    With Valentine’s Day peeking ominously over the horizon, Mallory, Shannon, Mark, and Ellen are just trying to distract themselves from their lives -- and their woefully tangled relationships -- as well as they can. But in the early morning hours of February 13th, someone they all know is rushed to the hospital -- and their tightly wound facades all start to unravel. On Valentine's Day, they all find themselves at the hospital together, tightly holding together their lives and looking for something -- or someone -- to cling to.
  • Wire Taps by Emma Swain
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    4–9
    ·
    Genre: drama, experimental
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, gender nonbinary + 2 more
    Genre: drama, experimental
    Keyword: LGBTQ, gender nonbinary, mental health issues, one act
    Told by nine non-binary, nameless characters, WIRE TAPS weaves together several stories about coming out, mental health, and what it means to be growing up queer in a rapidly changing world. WIRE TAPS is told entirely through telephone calls, voicemails, and text messages.

    A school edition is also available by individual inquiry.

  • Voices of VOW: A Verbatim Theatre Project by Emma Swain
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama
    ·
    Keyword: veterans' issues, Mental Health + 4 more
    Genre: docudrama/historic, drama
    Keyword: veterans' issues, Mental Health, PTSD, verbatim, homelessness, one act
    Voices of VOW was edited, compiled, and arranged by Emma Swain with assistance from Martin McClendon from interviews conducted in 2019 by Martin McClendon. It is a verbatim play that tells the stories of four United States military veterans and their lives after their service. Battling mental illness, homelessness, family rejection, injury, disability, and many other obstacles, these veterans all eventually...
    Voices of VOW was edited, compiled, and arranged by Emma Swain with assistance from Martin McClendon from interviews conducted in 2019 by Martin McClendon. It is a verbatim play that tells the stories of four United States military veterans and their lives after their service. Battling mental illness, homelessness, family rejection, injury, disability, and many other obstacles, these veterans all eventually found their way to the the James A. Peterson Veteran’s Village in Racine, WI, where they now live and work as members of the Village's community. It is through cooperation with the Village that we are able to tell their stories.
  • Stardust by Emma Swain
    Cast: 
    5–6
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: challenges of growing up gay, queer + 6 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: challenges of growing up gay, queer, stars, astronomy, family, grandparents, death, grief
    Cassiopeia is a girl named after the stars who likes other girls and thinks her Grandpa doesn't know.
    Grandpa is a janitor at a planetarium who is dying and thinks Cassie doesn't know.
    This could be a sad story, but Cassie's decided that it's not.