Justin Emeka is an innovative theater director, playwright, and educator celebrated for reimagining classic texts as well as staging bold and exciting new and contemporary works. His adaptations include Shakespeare’s Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Romeo & Juliet; Molière’s The Bourgeois Gentleman; and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.
Emeka served as Resident Director at Pittsburgh Public Theater, where he directed Lynn Nottage’s Sweat, Alice Childress’s Trouble in Mind, and his own original adaptation A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Harlem—a vibrant, culturally rich reimagining of Shakespeare’s comedy. He has also staged acclaimed works by August Wilson (Two Trains Running, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Dominique Morrisseau (Detroit ’67, Paradise Blue), and Rajiv Joseph (King James). He has directed at leading theaters including The Old Globe, Juilliard, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Two River Theater, and Classical Theatre of Harlem. In addition to his directing and playwriting, Emeka authored the chapter “Seeing Shakespeare Through Brown Eyes” in Black Acting Methods.
A tenured professor of Africana Studies and Theater at Oberlin College, he also serves on the Executive Board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), where he champions equity, innovation, and culturally expansive approaches to the stage.