Emma Kotze completed her studies in Theatre and Performance at UCT in 2013, after which she was nominated for the 2014 Fleur Du Cap award for Most Promising Student. She made her professional theatre debut in the premier of Wynne Bredenkamp’s Salt at the 2014 National Arts Festival, which she revised in 2015 and 2016. In 2015 she performed in In The Wings, produced by the Chaeli Campaign and directed by Philip Rademeyer. This production opened at the Muizenberg Ability Festival, where after it travelled to the National Arts Festival and continued a further tour of the Eastern Cape.
Between 2015 - 2017 she performed in The Incredible Journey, written and directed by Stefan Erasmus. The Incredible Journey toured to the Cape Town Fringe Festival, National Arts Festival, Muizenberg Festival and Knysna Literary Festival. 2016 also saw her starring in Bredenkamp’s Warrior Green which made its debut at the National Arts Festival. In 2016 and 2017 she performed in a one-woman production, Oh Baby, I’m A Wild One, written and directed by acclaimed playwright Louis Viljoen. During this time she also performed in Ameera Conrad’s Reparation, which featured on the Arena programme at the 2017 National Arts Festival. In 2017 and 2018 she performed in Bredenkamp’s At The Edge of The Light, which was staged at the 2017 Cape Town Fringe Festival as well as on the Staged programme at the 2018 National Arts Festival. In 2018 she starred in Bibi Slippers’ Fotostaatmasjien under the direction of Wessel Pretorius, which debuted at the Stellenbosch Woordfees and went on to perform at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees and Aardklop Kunstefees. She returned to the Stellenbosch Woordfees in 2019 under the direction of Mercy Kannemeyer in Die Bul Hy Wil Nie. In 2019 Emma starred alongside David Viviers and Wessel Pretorius in Pretorius’ The Gospel According to Jan Coetzee which was performed at the National Arts Festival and in Cape Town. In 2023 she once again collaborated with Louis Viljoen to perform his one hander The Grass Widow at the Baxter’s Masambe Theatre. In the same year she travelled to both Aardklop and Stellenbosch Woordfees arts festivals to perform in Philip Rademeyer’s drama Goed Wat Wag Om Te Gebeur. This production continued its tour to the KKNK arts festival in 2024.
Emma has featured in numerous South African film and television series such as Die Boekklub and Fynskrif (both directed by Nina Swart), Nommer 5 and Nommer 54 (dir. Jaco Nothnagel), Rage (dir. Jaco Bouwer) and Afgrond (dir. Corné van Rooyen). She was most recently featured in History Channel’s miniseries Lincoln. She has worked alongside Tinarie van Wyk Loots, Antoinette Kellerman, David Minnaar, Cintaine Schutte and Stian Bam in a stop animation film based on N.P. van Wyk Louw's Raka, produced by Ysterfang, Puppetry and Animation Company. Her other film credits include work on international series Strange New Things in 2016 and the second season of the series ICE. Kotze has also studied film acting under Bonni Rodini.
Emma is a regular voice artist for Content Lab ZA and has performed in two RSG radio dramas, Die Man van Cirene and Die Wildedruif Val under the direction of Joanie Combrink.