Emma Willis is a director and dramaturge who works as a Lecturer in Drama at the University of Auckland.

In 2014 she published, Theatricality, Dark Tourism and Ethical Spectatorship: Absent Others (Palgrave Macmillan) based on her doctoral research, which included award-winning performance Dark Tourists, made in collaboration with Malia Johnston.

Emma’s research has been praised for its design, execution, originality in its interdisciplinary reach and moral commitment to her subject matter.  Her scholarship includes elements of theatre studies, museum studies, anthropology, history, philosophy and practical performance in both drama and dance.  In 2015 she was awarded the American Theatre and Drama Society Vera Mowry Roberts Award for Research and Publication for best essay on the subject of theatre in the Americas.

Emma regularly co-creates Dance Theatre with Malia Johnston and team.