Emma Bentley is queer actor and theatre maker from the rural Midlands, based in South-East London. She has been making solo performances for 10 years, collaborating with writers and directors such as Holly Robinson, Katherina Reinthaller and Calum Finlay. She’s interested in delving into how sexuality and gender intersects with class and privilege, rags to riches stories told with a zany, sparkly touch.

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She has been awarded two ACE GFTA funding for her solo show What Goes on In Front of Closed Doors, which told the story of a teenager on the brink of homeless. The show was also shortlisted for an Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award and was critically acclaimed during it’s run at Edinburgh Fringe 2017 (★★★★★ Broadway Baby “deeply moving”). Her newest solo show, the supermodel in the caff sold out in its site-sympathtic performance in the East End, after its debut at Ventnor Fringe earlier that year.

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Emma is not shy of understanding theatre and live art from all angles, she is an immersive theatre actor working for Layered Realities production of War of the Worlds, The Gunpowder Plot, recently toured with Giffords Circus on their 2024 show Avalon and has been a long-time facilitator/actor for KIT Theatre. Her podcast The Callback, featured a series of interviews with a diverse group of actors, writers and directors from across the London Theatre scene, discussing good mental health practices for the future of the arts.