This section collects all HowlRound content that takes the form of an interview between two or more theatremakers. Interested in contributing your own interview? Here are our interview guidelines and best practices!
Since the “great pause,” funders have shifted their giving models. Ben Cameron has seen it from every side—and he talks all about it. Through anecdotes about his experiences at organizations from Theatre Communications Group to the Jerome Foundation, Ben offers many insights into how ensemble fits in a thriving theatre ecosystem.
Communications manager Ramona Rose King chats with Abigail Vega on her last day as HowlRound’s creative producer to reflect on her work with HowlRound and the Latinx Theatre Commons, producing using commons-based practices, and advice she’d give to aspiring producers.
Miranda Wright, producer and executive director at Los Angeles Performance Practice, and Jeffrey Mosser discuss how Miranda has developed a presenting organization for sharing ambitious, collaboratively created work over the last ten years, as well as what she’s learned from some major arts funding research.
The Closing of San Francisco’s “Anti-Theatre” Theater Venue
18 April 2023
Artist and producer Rose Oser interviews Rob Ready and Duncan Wold about the closing of PianoFight, the San Francisco company and venue they co-founded that shuttered in March 2023.
Playwrights Star Finch, Psalmayene 24, and J. Nicole Brooks chat about Black playwrights on Broadway, and what being produced there represents to them.
A Living History of Ensemble Theatre (or Bob Leonard’s Ensemble Encyclopedia)
12 April 2023
Bob Leonard chronicles his work from the People’s Bicentennial Commission and the Road Company through the founding of the Network of Ensemble Theaters and Alternate ROOTS. Together, Jeffrey Mosser and Bob connect the dots through the middle wave of ensemble-based theatre in the United States.
The Making of the Shiny Knight of Chicanos, Part One
A Conversation with Octavio Solis
10 April 2023
Playwright Octavio Solis reinvents early modern Spanish theatre in several of his plays, often instilling these classics with a Texano perspective. Glenda Y. Nieto-Cuebas and Erin A. Cowling interview Solis about his adaptation process and the way that growing up on the Mexico-United States border has shaped his work.
Maintaining Connections from the Hyperlocal to the International
5 April 2023
Carlos Uriona and Jennifer Johnson, co-artistic directors at Double Edge Theatre, connect with Jeffrey Mosser to discuss how working in rural Massachusetts for over thirty years has enabled them to share art on the world stage.
Intentional, Relational, Consensual: A New Framework for Performing Arts Contracts
30 March 2023
This dynamic summary of a panel co-curated by Rachel Penny and Nikki Shaffeeullah as part of Parallel Tracks 2.0 brings together several artists, producers, and lawyers in a discussion about contracting, how it has been impacted by COVID-19, and interrogating power dynamics within the contracting process.
Jeffrey Mosser connects with Willa Jo Zollar, who is founder, chief visioning partner, and MacArthur Genius at Urban Bush Women. Together they talk about touring, the festival circuit, and strategy necessary to sustain a company for thirty years.
In the season finale of the Building Our Own Tables podcast, Yura Sapi invites Gabriel Barrera to share about creating Scenic G, a visual art and design company providing services in art and design, workshops, consultation, facilitation, and mentorship infused with social justice. After spending twenty years as a scenic designer, Gabriel shares about his decision to leave and build his own table as an independent artist providing opportunities for others along the way. Topics in this episode include decolonizing ideas of who a teacher can be, addressing toxic behaviors, and facilitation skills.
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.
Theatremaker Mica Rose joins Yura Sapi this week and shares about co-creating Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston. Topics for this episode include moving from morning routine to waking ritual, the power of circles and cycles, and a grounding meditation.
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.
This week, Yura Sapi is join by Tierra Allen who shares about creating The Real Work, a podcast about theatre culture and transformative justice that is co-produced with We Rise Production. This episode’s topics include learning from non-humans, sharing poems and songs, and being the change.
This week, Kelundra Smith sits down with Yura Sapi to discuss building her own table as a playwright and shares the process and inspiration behind some of her latest works. Topics for this episode include affirmations, changing hierarchical structures, and moving beyond a sense of urgency.
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.
This week, Yura Sapi is joined by Christiamilda Correa to discuss creating LiberArte, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to racial, social, and climate justice worldwide; the Strategic Planning Institute; and NYU Latinx Alumni. Topics for this episode include writing prompts, seeking out spaces to find community, and transforming challenges.
An Artist’s Take on Disability Creativity with David Salsbery Fry
22 February 2023
David Salsbery Fry’s career in opera shifted dramatically when he publicly disclosed his disability in 2015. In this candid discussion with Marianna Mott Newirth and Gregory Moomjy, co-founders of New York City’s first disability-affirmative opera company, he details his experiences navigating an industry that has not made itself fully accessible or welcoming to artists with disabilities.
Victor Vazquez joins Yura Sapi to share his experience creating X Casting, a casting company that spans theatre and film in the United States and worldwide through a shared purpose of collective liberation and anti-racism. This episode’s topics include thinking about our role in the political landscape, globalism, and a curiosity for generous solutions.
Recently named Edward Medina Prize winner Brittani Samuel joins Yura Sapi to share about her experience building her own table as a theatre critic. Topics in this episode include choosing joy every day, being a child of immigrants, and a shared meditation practice. This episode is dedicated to theare artist and critic Edward Medina, honoring his legacy which brings us all together today.
For Some Russian Dissident Theatremakers, the Future Is Unclear
31 January 2023
Director Vitaly Kogut is one of many displaced Russian men spending this winter in Batumi, Georgia. Daniel Mesta interviews him about his work, in which uses theatre to communicate the complexities of the Russian soul while enduring censorship and cancellation.
Jose Solís joins Yura Sapi to discuss creating the BIPOC Critics Lab and co-creating the Token Theatre Friends podcast-webseries. This episode’s topics include finding beauty in the internet, how a metaphorical grain of sand can change the world, and a tarot reading for the first three months of 2023.
Abundance Zaddy joins Yura Sapi to talk about creating Cause Reign, an oral history project that connects Black people—with a focus on Black trans and queer folks—to their histories through dreamwork, the practice of remembering, recording, and activating the healing potential of dreams. Topics in this episode include prioritizing love and sweetness, transcending time, and asking for consent.
Championing Theatre for Development in Malawian Villages
17 January 2023
Theatre for development, which uses theatre to foster civic dialogue in communities, is quite popular in Malawi. Fumbani Innot Phiri, Jr. sits down with theatre for development practitioner Vitu Gwambaike Zgambo find out what commercial theatremakers in Malawi’s cities and towns can learn from the community-based practitioners creating theatre in villages around the country.