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Recent Essays

This is a repository of written content, sorted by most recent to oldest. Enjoy!

A performer wearing black and a mask standing on top of a box with arms in the air.
Movement Is for Every Body
Essay

Movement Is for Every Body

23 March 2023

Theatre artist and educator Katie Butler discusses the need to recalibrate movement practice toward accessibility and body autonomy, and shares her own experience navigating changes in her body’s abilities.

Two performers embrace onstage while another sits next to them and faces forward.
One Approach to Student Engagement in Educational Season Selection
Essay

One Approach to Student Engagement in Educational Season Selection

20 March 2023

In response to student demands for greater input in season selection, the Department of Theater and Drama at the University of Michigan has spent the past few years revising their selections process. Professor Christianne Myers details their approach, which centers on a department-wide feedback and a semester-long Student Selection Advisory course.

A purple stage with a lit blue backdrop.
Inventing the “Flay” (Film/Play) with Campo Santo
Essay

Inventing the “Flay” (Film/Play) with Campo Santo

16 March 2023

When Campo Santo decided to film their production of Star Finch’s Side Effects early in the COVID-19 pandemic, they were embarking on a creative journey that felt entirely novel and a little overwhelming. In this conversation, the production’s directors discuss development of the production’s aesthetic and the generative process they embarked on at the intersection of “film” and “play.

A still from Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World.
How Javaad Alipoor’s Fourth World Trilogy Disrupts What We Think We Understand About History, Politics, and the Internet
Essay

How Javaad Alipoor’s Fourth World Trilogy Disrupts What We Think We Understand About History, Politics, and the Internet

14 March 2023

Joseph Dunne-Howrie examines the way that three of Javaad Alipoor’s plays infuse the internet into theatrical performance, creating intersecting narratives that interrogate identity formation in the age of global interconnectivity.

A performer in front of a virtual background with trees and bright sunlight.
Digital Theatre Is Here To Stay: Paula Vogel’s Bard at the Gate
Essay

Digital Theatre Is Here To Stay: Paula Vogel’s Bard at the Gate

13 March 2023

Theatre critic Jonathan Mandell discusses virtual playwriting series Bard at the Gate and looks at the impact and future of digital theatre.

Two women stand next to each other and speak.
On Diane Rodriguez’s Legacy of Mentorship as Reciprocity
Essay

On Diane Rodriguez’s Legacy of Mentorship as Reciprocity

9 March 2023

As the inaugural recipient of the Diane Rodriguez Teatrista Award, Patricia Garza reflects on Rodriguez’s embodiment of collaborative leadership. They are joined by Manny Prieto and Nijeul X for a conversation about the potential unlocked by more expansive approaches to mentorship.

Four senior actors stand on-stage and look at their scripts during a rehearsal.
Elder Dramaturgy
Essay

Elder Dramaturgy

7 March 2023

Playwright Carlyle Brown describes his journey with the play We Take Care of Our Own by Zainabu Jallo, detailing the joys and challenges that come from work featuring characters in their eighties and nineties.

We're hiring a Creative Producer.
We’re Hiring a Creative Producer!
Essay

We’re Hiring a Creative Producer!

6 March 2023

Do you know and love HowlRound Theatre Commons, and want to be part of stewarding our free and open platform? Join our team! You could be our next Creative Producer!

An actor dressed as President Zelensky points a prop gun at an unseen target.
Reflecting on the Timeliness of Polish Theatre at Kraków’s Divine Comedy Theatre Festival
Essay

Reflecting on the Timeliness of Polish Theatre at Kraków’s Divine Comedy Theatre Festival

2 March 2023

The Divine Comedy Theatre Festival in Kraków, Poland explored the theme of “Polish Taboo” across its thirty-two productions this year. Howard Shalwitz, who attended the festival as part of an American delegation of artists building connections between the United States and Poland, shares his experience attending the festival.

One performer stands next to four seated performers who hold sunflowers in their laps.
How Kyiv-Based Documentary Theatre Amplifies Ukrainian Resilience
Essay

How Kyiv-Based Documentary Theatre Amplifies Ukrainian Resilience

28 February 2023

Lisa Rafferty sits down with Ukrainian documentary storyteller Alem Kent to discuss Kent’s Our Response Ability and upcoming work with ProEnglish Theatre. Through documentary and verbatim theatre practices, these productions detail experiences of Ukrainians living under siege and working as war persists around them.

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