Emily Zemba

Emily Zemba

EMILY ZEMBA is a Brooklyn based playwright, artistic producer, and Mary Tyler Moore show enthusiast. Her work has been developed with Local Theater in Boulder, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Williamstown Theater Festival Professional Training Company, Exquisite Corpse Company, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis (Core Apprenticeship 2015), Great Plains Theater Conference,...
EMILY ZEMBA is a Brooklyn based playwright, artistic producer, and Mary Tyler Moore show enthusiast. Her work has been developed with Local Theater in Boulder, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Williamstown Theater Festival Professional Training Company, Exquisite Corpse Company, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis (Core Apprenticeship 2015), Great Plains Theater Conference, Labyrinth Theater Company, and Theater Masters. She is a member of The Middle Voice at Rattlestick. Emily has taught Playwriting at Wesleyan University and Tres Artis Studio in NYC. BA: Sarah Lawrence College. MFA: Yale School of Drama.

Plays

  • Clockwork by Emily Zemba
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, political, satire
    When a killer speech goes horribly awry, Darlene and her team must do all they can to fish her congressional campaign out of the toilet. Meanwhile, a young girl is dealing with a new home and new economic reality by planting potatoes in her neighbor’s yard. Clockwork is a comedy about losing, loss, and how to endure a real shit storm.
  • Come Back Richard Simmons by Emily Zemba
    Cast: 
    2–15
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 8 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, experimental, fantasy, farce, immersive, movement/physical, musical, satire
    In this dance-workout-meets-existential-play, we take a an exclusive immersive and surreal look at the peppy motivator who helped humanity lose 12 million pounds and then abandoned them.
  • Deer and the Lovers by Emily Zemba
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: deer, wilderness + 1 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, farce, romantic comedy
    Keyword: deer, wilderness, feminism
    Qiana and Peter take a romantic weekend getaway to New Hampshire only to find that a deer has crashed through the window and died. Deer and the Lovers is a comedy about being lost in love, lost in the woods, and searching for one's purpose when life veers off track
  • I'm Sorry I Brought up God by Emily Zemba
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    ·
    Keyword: Alcoholics Anonymous, Bible + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Keyword: Alcoholics Anonymous, Bible, cats, women
    Gwen, David, and Denise all awkwardly try to navigate loss, recovery, and love. When a Bible mysteriously appears in Gwen’s apartment, they struggle with how to use it.
  • Have You Been There? by Emily Zemba
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy
    Richard tries to make meaning out of his reoccurring dream, but he can’t quite crack it. Desperate to uncover this mystery, Richard seeks out just about anyone for answers, starting with his ex-girlfriend. This comedy examines the experience of getting stuck, moving on, and how hard it can be to just leave the bar.
  • But if the Train Comes to Her by Emily Zemba
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: drama
    ·
    Keyword: women, trains + 1 more
    Genre: drama
    Keyword: women, trains, family tragedy
    When a young girl in town jumps in front of a train, 16- year-old Zinnia embarks on an existential search for meaning. Zinnia’s schoolmates attempt to understand their grief through séances and other witchy-games; Dawn, the town busybody, worries about a teen suicide epidemic; and Zinnia’s mother Janet is trying hard to keep it together. But if the Train Comes to Her is an examination of “to be or not to be,”...
    When a young girl in town jumps in front of a train, 16- year-old Zinnia embarks on an existential search for meaning. Zinnia’s schoolmates attempt to understand their grief through séances and other witchy-games; Dawn, the town busybody, worries about a teen suicide epidemic; and Zinnia’s mother Janet is trying hard to keep it together. But if the Train Comes to Her is an examination of “to be or not to be,” through the lens of a family feeling trapped by their seemingly small life by the train tracks.
  • The Great Teddy Bear Shipwreck Mystery by Emily Zemba
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    3–12
    ·
    Genre: adventure, comedy + 7 more
    Genre: adventure, comedy, dark comedy, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, immersive, movement/physical, mystery/thriller
    In 1903, 3,000 teddy bears were sent by ship from Germany to America…. and then disappeared, never to be seen again. In 2019, Elizabeth is afraid of losing herself in a shipwrecked marriage. When a real life grizzly bear appears in her kitchen, Elizabeth is confronted with what happens when we let our wildest dreams and fears enter our quiet domestic lives. This is a fantastical feminist dream-play about love,...
    In 1903, 3,000 teddy bears were sent by ship from Germany to America…. and then disappeared, never to be seen again. In 2019, Elizabeth is afraid of losing herself in a shipwrecked marriage. When a real life grizzly bear appears in her kitchen, Elizabeth is confronted with what happens when we let our wildest dreams and fears enter our quiet domestic lives. This is a fantastical feminist dream-play about love, teddy bears, and the sacrifices we make to find happiness. Also starring: Susan Sontag.
  • Uninviting Margaret by Emily Zemba
    Cast: 
    6
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: Farce, family + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, farce, holiday, romantic comedy
    Keyword: Farce, family, Thanksgiving, affair, women
    Thanksgiving goes absurdly off the rails for this closed-off New England family when the patriarch's scorned mistress arrives for the holiday festivities.
  • Look Up, Speak Nicely, and Don't Twiddle your Fingers all the Time by Emily Zemba
    Cast: 
    6–10
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 8 more
    ·
    Keyword: Toddlers in Tiaras, Stage mom + 5 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, experimental, farce, immersive, movement/physical, musical, pageant, parody/spoof
    Keyword: Toddlers in Tiaras, Stage mom, adaptation, parody, Alice in Wonderland, Classic, ensemble
    Alice mysteriously falls down the rabbit hole, and her little sister Liddy must take her place in the Little Miss Teacup Pageant. Liddy’s world becomes more and more strange as a barrage of peculiar people parade backstage, along with the queen of all pageant moms. Look Up, Speak Nicely, and Don’t Twiddle Your Fingers All the Time is a new adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s beloved Alice stories—with several twists and tiaras.
  • Superstitions by Emily Zemba
    Recommendations: 1
    ·
    Cast: 
    8–9
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, experimental, horror, mystery/thriller
    A foreigner finds a penny on the ground and offers it to a stranger. A realtor is late for an appointment.
    Personal and national terrors ensue. Superstitions is an unconventional dark comedy about navigating our personal and national terrors and what happens when we believe in the unknown. Who knew the ridiculous could be so terrifying?