Emmitt Socey | Chicago Director & Lighting Designer

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Socey

CONTACT:

@emmsocey

emmsocey@gmail.com

Photo: Joe Mazza for Orange Julius
at Loyola University Chicago

Hi, I'm Emmitt Socey
(friends call me Emm!)

they/them

I am a Chicago-based theatre maker with artistic and personal roots in Indianapolis

I'm one of those multi-hyphenates

you hear so much about. Directing, Lighting Design, and New Play Development are my loves.

+ I have so much fun with a camera

+ I have a real soft spot for puppets

NEW HAPPENINGS

Underlined Text = info links

Lighting Design for
- 4.48 Psychosis w/ Backyard Theatre Co.
- Two Out of Three Falls w/ The Factory
Developing Ongoing Body Project w/ Annie Grey Smith

Instagram Feed (aka the thing I update most frequently)
@emmsocey

4.48: the horizontal post
by Sarah Kane

director Hannah Ottenfeld
scenic Annie Grey Smith
costumes Emma Brandenburger
sound Jae Robinson
violence + intimacy Erin Sheets
lights + photos Emmitt Socey

assistant director Lily Dekoven
dramaturg Gloria Gordy Regalado
stage manager Miguel Salgado
creative associate Carlie Merola

CAST
Erin Donohue
Cee Patricia Scallen
Francesca Zaccor
Amelia Tam
Audrey Smith-Philips
Lori Navarrete (us)
Emma Parsons (us)

4.48: the horizontal post
by Sarah Kane

director Hannah Ottenfeld
scenic Annie Grey Smith
costumes Emma Brandenburger
sound Jae Robinson
violence + intimacy Erin Sheets
lights + photos Emmitt Socey

assistant director Lily Dekoven
dramaturg Gloria Gordy Regalado
stage manager Miguel Salgado
creative associate Carlie Merola

CAST
Erin Donohue
Cee Patricia Scallen
Francesca Zaccor
Amelia Tam
Audrey Smith-Philips
Lori Navarrete (us)
Emma Parsons (us)

4.48 Psychosis: the vertical post
by Sarah Kane

director Hannah Ottenfeld
scenic Annie Grey Smith
costumes Emma Brandenburger
sound Jae Robinson
violence + intimacy Erin Sheets
lights + photos Emmitt Socey

assistant director Lily Dekoven
dramaturg Gloria Gordy Regalado
stage manager Miguel Salgado Jr.
creative associate Carlie Merola

CAST
Erin Donohue
Fee Patricia Scallen
Francesca Zaccor
Amelia Tam
Audrey Smith-Phillips
Lori Navarrete (us)
Emma Parsons (us)

4.48 Psychosis: the vertical post
by Sarah Kane

director Hannah Ottenfeld
scenic Annie Grey Smith
costumes Emma Brandenburger
sound Jae Robinson
violence + intimacy Erin Sheets
lights + photos Emmitt Socey

assistant director Lily Dekoven
dramaturg Gloria Gordy Regalado
stage manager Miguel Salgado Jr.
creative associate Carlie Merola

CAST
Erin Donohue
Fee Patricia Scallen
Francesca Zaccor
Amelia Tam
Audrey Smith-Phillips
Lori Navarrete (us)
Emma Parsons (us)

Kubrickian by Zack Peercy
The Factory Theater

Director • AJ Schwartz
Scenic • Josh Philoon
Costumes • Valerie Cambron
Lighting • Emmitt Socey
Sound Designer Isaac Mandel
Makeup FX • Jacque Bischoff
Fight Director • Kate Lass
Intimacy Director • Ethan Smith
Photos • Emmitt Socey

Kubrickian by Zack Peercy
The Factory Theater

Director • AJ Schwartz
Scenic • Josh Philoon
Costumes • Valerie Cambron
Lighting • Emmitt Socey
Sound Designer Isaac Mandel
Makeup FX • Jacque Bischoff
Fight Director • Kate Lass
Intimacy Director • Ethan Smith
Photos • Emmitt Socey

This is what I wore to see Miss Julie at The Court! I had some business in Hyde Park earlier in the day so I killed a little time wandering around Washington Park. #ootd #styleme #greenoutfit #fallfits #eclecticstyle

This is what I wore to see Miss Julie at The Court! I had some business in Hyde Park earlier in the day so I killed a little time wandering around Washington Park. #ootd #styleme #greenoutfit #fallfits #eclecticstyle

The Illusion with Forest Theatre Company

directed by Richard Corley
scenic by Brian Wasserman
costumes by Nick Cochran
lighting by Emmitt Socey
photos by Emmitt Socey

The Illusion with Forest Theatre Company

directed by Richard Corley
scenic by Brian Wasserman
costumes by Nick Cochran
lighting by Emmitt Socey
photos by Emmitt Socey

Shoutout to my dad for keeping me company while I put this one together #styleme #ootd #accessories #beret #vest

Shoutout to my dad for keeping me company while I put this one together #styleme #ootd #accessories #beret #vest

There are also so many rules in menswear which makes it feel less approachable. The lines are so much subtler than womenswear, so an ill-fitting garment ruins an outfit faster imo #menswear #styleme #silktie #pianobar

There are also so many rules in menswear which makes it feel less approachable. The lines are so much subtler than womenswear, so an ill-fitting garment ruins an outfit faster imo #menswear #styleme #silktie #pianobar

I’ve been posting some of these on my TikTok (I know, cringe) and I’m enjoying making and sharing them, so I thought I’d see how they land on insta #styleme #ootd #goingoutlook #goseeaplay

I’ve been posting some of these on my TikTok (I know, cringe) and I’m enjoying making and sharing them, so I thought I’d see how they land on insta #styleme #ootd #goingoutlook #goseeaplay

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And then it snowed

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And then it snowed

Two More Weekends!

Elektra
adapted by Ezra Pound and Rudd Fleming
directed by Richard Corley
stage manager Nevaeh Mansur
production manager Angelina Dávila
costume design Cindy Moon
scenic design Brian Waawrman
lighting and photos Emmitt Socey
produced by Forest Theatre Company

Two More Weekends!

Elektra
adapted by Ezra Pound and Rudd Fleming
directed by Richard Corley
stage manager Nevaeh Mansur
production manager Angelina Dávila
costume design Cindy Moon
scenic design Brian Waawrman
lighting and photos Emmitt Socey
produced by Forest Theatre Company

“I change my hair every week and a half dude, get used to it”

“I change my hair every week and a half dude, get used to it”

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A lot of fake blood, real sweat, and more fake blood went into this one. The Sorting Life runs through November 22nd at The Factory Theater.
I did the lights and took these photos :)

The Sporting Life by Marjorie Muller

PRODUCTION TEAM
Director • Kayla Menz
Production Manager • Eric Frederickson
Stage Manager• Shane Hogan
Asst. Director • Sonia Goldberg
Asst. Stage Manager • Jimena Ramirez
Fight Director • Becca Schwartz
Asst. Fight Director • Kate Booth
Intimacy Director • Emily Antoff
Technical Director Anthony Doyle
Scenic Designer • Ramona Rotten
Costume SFX Designer • Anna Rogers
Asst. SFX Designer • Spencer Korcz
Props Designer • Evy Burch
Lighting Designer • Emmitt Socey
Master Electrician • Morgan Watkinson
Sound Designer • Gina Montalvo

CAST
Dot • Ziare Paul-Emile
Sherry • Elizabeth MacDougald
Mikayla • Tyara Whitted
Joe • Bryan Breau
Younger Man • Ian Mason
Older Man • Bill Daniel

Dot & Mikayla U/S • Amanda Elena de la Fuente
Sherry U/S • Kelsey Cally
Joe & Older Man U/S • Zach Kunde
Younger Man U/S • George Petermeier

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A lot of fake blood, real sweat, and more fake blood went into this one. The Sorting Life runs through November 22nd at The Factory Theater.
I did the lights and took these photos :)

The Sporting Life by Marjorie Muller

PRODUCTION TEAM
Director • Kayla Menz
Production Manager • Eric Frederickson
Stage Manager• Shane Hogan
Asst. Director • Sonia Goldberg
Asst. Stage Manager • Jimena Ramirez
Fight Director • Becca Schwartz
Asst. Fight Director • Kate Booth
Intimacy Director • Emily Antoff
Technical Director Anthony Doyle
Scenic Designer • Ramona Rotten
Costume SFX Designer • Anna Rogers
Asst. SFX Designer • Spencer Korcz
Props Designer • Evy Burch
Lighting Designer • Emmitt Socey
Master Electrician • Morgan Watkinson
Sound Designer • Gina Montalvo

CAST
Dot • Ziare Paul-Emile
Sherry • Elizabeth MacDougald
Mikayla • Tyara Whitted
Joe • Bryan Breau
Younger Man • Ian Mason
Older Man • Bill Daniel

Dot & Mikayla U/S • Amanda Elena de la Fuente
Sherry U/S • Kelsey Cally
Joe & Older Man U/S • Zach Kunde
Younger Man U/S • George Petermeier

Too short a run for this one ✈️

photos by me :)

WAYFINDING by Whitney Roland
produced by Here’s the Exit
directed by Hudson Therriault

PRODUCTION TEAM
producer Riley Vance
stage manager Miguel Salgado Jr.
fight & intimacy Madison Smith
sound Hudson Therriault
lights Emmitt Socey

CAST
Jane — Kady Nordstrom
Harrison — Levi Welch
Les — Dylan C Wack
Doctor, Reporter — Ellen Campbell
Matthew, Flight Attendant — Curen Feliciani
Representative, Officer — Emily Fernandez

Too short a run for this one ✈️

photos by me :)

WAYFINDING by Whitney Roland
produced by Here’s the Exit
directed by Hudson Therriault

PRODUCTION TEAM
producer Riley Vance
stage manager Miguel Salgado Jr.
fight & intimacy Madison Smith
sound Hudson Therriault
lights Emmitt Socey

CAST
Jane — Kady Nordstrom
Harrison — Levi Welch
Les — Dylan C Wack
Doctor, Reporter — Ellen Campbell
Matthew, Flight Attendant — Curen Feliciani
Representative, Officer — Emily Fernandez

Summer’s gentle end

Summer’s gentle end

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Always playing catch-up. There's some more summer for ya!

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Always playing catch-up. There's some more summer for ya!

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This summer’s four-letter word:
𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞

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This summer’s four-letter word:
𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞

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Yellow Post

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Yellow Post

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Brought to you in 𝘉𝘓𝘜𝘌

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Brought to you in 𝘉𝘓𝘜𝘌

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This post brought to you by the color RED

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This post brought to you by the color RED

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Happy New Year

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Happy New Year

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Charles Dickins Begrudgingly Performs a Christmas Carol Again
Created and Performed by Blake Montgomery

Scenic Design — Pamela Maurer
Costume Design — Izumi Inaba
Wig Design — Megan E. Pirtle
Lighting Design — Emmitt Socey
Sound Design — Oskar Westbridge
Ghost of Rehearsals Present — George Keating
Stage Management — Jake Snell

Production photos my Joe Mazza and Michael Brosilow (shots tagged accordingly)

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Charles Dickins Begrudgingly Performs a Christmas Carol Again
Created and Performed by Blake Montgomery

Scenic Design — Pamela Maurer
Costume Design — Izumi Inaba
Wig Design — Megan E. Pirtle
Lighting Design — Emmitt Socey
Sound Design — Oskar Westbridge
Ghost of Rehearsals Present — George Keating
Stage Management — Jake Snell

Production photos my Joe Mazza and Michael Brosilow (shots tagged accordingly)

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It’s cold out. Go warm up the ones you love.

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It’s cold out. Go warm up the ones you love.

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Another post about this lovely experience. (and then of course there will be another when I edit the production photos)
You Will Speak Again Kapemba’tona was my first time being a dramaturg on a new work. One the one hand, it was incredibly scary to think that I could have such and impact on and potentially fuck up this other person’s play, but it was so exciting to get to use my skills to support someone else in trying to articulate and share their own story.
With both Helena and me each playing two or more roles in this process, we became real collaborators. I was so freeing to get to make decisions together that we felt served the piece and for those decisions to be entirely ours.
This production is just the beginning, there are future drafts of this script for different time constraints and different storytelling priorities. Knowing that to be true lifted the weight of having to get it all perfect on the first go. Instead we were able to decide what it would be this time and commit to making the best version of that.

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Another post about this lovely experience. (and then of course there will be another when I edit the production photos)
You Will Speak Again Kapemba’tona was my first time being a dramaturg on a new work. One the one hand, it was incredibly scary to think that I could have such and impact on and potentially fuck up this other person’s play, but it was so exciting to get to use my skills to support someone else in trying to articulate and share their own story.
With both Helena and me each playing two or more roles in this process, we became real collaborators. I was so freeing to get to make decisions together that we felt served the piece and for those decisions to be entirely ours.
This production is just the beginning, there are future drafts of this script for different time constraints and different storytelling priorities. Knowing that to be true lifted the weight of having to get it all perfect on the first go. Instead we were able to decide what it would be this time and commit to making the best version of that.

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What a real gift it is to have two shows opening at once.
Through the last month and a half, I directed and also served as dramaturg (and a lighting mentor) for @_helena_jose_ ‘s original one-woman play, 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘒𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢’𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘢. As her senior capstone it will play two performances at Earlham and we hope to give it a longer life touring it to Fringe festivals and elsewhere. (And don’t worry, more photos are on their way)
This week I came home to Chicago to hop right into tech fast assistant lighting designer on 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 by @ajaggedlittlephil at The Raven. Assisting Lee is an absolute pleasure and I’ve been incredibly grateful to be folded into this process with so many lovely people.

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What a real gift it is to have two shows opening at once.
Through the last month and a half, I directed and also served as dramaturg (and a lighting mentor) for @_helena_jose_ ‘s original one-woman play, 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘒𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢’𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘢. As her senior capstone it will play two performances at Earlham and we hope to give it a longer life touring it to Fringe festivals and elsewhere. (And don’t worry, more photos are on their way)
This week I came home to Chicago to hop right into tech fast assistant lighting designer on 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 by @ajaggedlittlephil at The Raven. Assisting Lee is an absolute pleasure and I’ve been incredibly grateful to be folded into this process with so many lovely people.

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Blood to Drink by Maggie Lou Rader
—photos by Emm Socey —
Directed by Lynne Perkins Socey
Scenic and Costume Design by Mia Slayton
Lighting Design by Emm Socey
Sound Design by Gannon Murray
Stage Manager Haley Baugues
— Primary Cast —
Elizabeth Proctor — Austi Jenkins
Sarah Good — Winnie Kratz
Bridget Bishop — Delilah Rains
Ann Foster — Erica Pearson
George Burroughs — John Ozai
John Hathorne — Duncan Pickering-Polstra

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Blood to Drink by Maggie Lou Rader
—photos by Emm Socey —
Directed by Lynne Perkins Socey
Scenic and Costume Design by Mia Slayton
Lighting Design by Emm Socey
Sound Design by Gannon Murray
Stage Manager Haley Baugues
— Primary Cast —
Elizabeth Proctor — Austi Jenkins
Sarah Good — Winnie Kratz
Bridget Bishop — Delilah Rains
Ann Foster — Erica Pearson
George Burroughs — John Ozai
John Hathorne — Duncan Pickering-Polstra

Playing catch-up on documenting the projects I did at Earlham in October+November. The start of it was lighting design for Blood to Drink by @maggielouwho7
Here’s a little peak at the production through some sketches

Playing catch-up on documenting the projects I did at Earlham in October+November. The start of it was lighting design for Blood to Drink by @maggielouwho7
Here’s a little peak at the production through some sketches

Happy 23 to me and here’s to spending it with the folks who brought me here

Happy 23 to me and here’s to spending it with the folks who brought me here

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Remember that time we went on a boat?

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Remember that time we went on a boat?

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September 🦎

(b&w of Mary, Alex and Emm by Joe Mazza)

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September 🦎

(b&w of Mary, Alex and Emm by Joe Mazza)

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An Orange Julius, that’s what I want when I get home

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An Orange Julius, that’s what I want when I get home

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