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!
Sean San José, artistic director of Magic Theatre, and Margo Hall, artistic director of the Lorraine Hansberry theatre discuss stepping into their positions as artistic directors and reflect on their work together as two of the co-founders of Campo Santo Theatre.
Process Performances and the Completion Commission
15 December 2021
Rachel Dickstein, Artistic Director of Ripe Time, takes us through her experience with Center Theatre Group’s completion commission for their adaptation of SLEEP. She also spotlights some necessary and helpful relationships with tour presenting partners, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, as well as champion and friend Diane Rodriguez.
Founding Program Director for the Arts at Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Olga Garay-English and Jeffrey Mosser discuss the revolutionary process of getting ensemble work in regional theatre spaces including her unprecedented partnership with Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Other topics include touring models, festival culture, and her experience as an international arts consultant.
A Roadmap for the Ensemble-Regional Producing Model
1 December 2021
From the Ground Up returns to the airwaves with Patricia Garza who shares their experience producing hyper-collaborative and ensemble-based theatre at the regional theatre level. Their work at the Network of Ensemble Theaters, Los Angeles Performance Practice, Center Theatre Group, and artEquity provides significant insights into contemporary theatre-making practices and next steps for the industry.
Imagining a New Federal Theatre Project with Corinna Schulenberg and Dr. Elizabeth A. Osborne
24 November 2021
As a part of the New Deal, the Federal Theatre Project of the 1930s funded theatre in the United States at an unprecedented level, providing paid work for trained theatremakers and low-cost performances to audiences all around the country. Corinna Schulenberg and Dr. Elizabeth A. Osborne discuss the history of the Federal Theatre Project and its potential to act as a model for a New Federal Theatre Project formed in conjunction with racial justice, climate justice, and Land Back movements.
Glenn Davis, co-artistic director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, sits down with Ken-Matt Martin, artistic director of Victory Gardens Theater, to talk about shifting relationships with donors, the concept of term limits for leadership, the joys of returning to rehearsal rooms, and their shared experiences as Black men at the helm of Chicago theatres.
Shakespeare looms large over both the American and British theatre scenes. But his outsize influence means that we’ve long neglected a dizzying array of fascinating and brilliant theatre written by other early modern England dramatists. Robert Crighton and the Beyond Shakespeare Company are working to remedy this, and Robert joins us for this episode to discuss how they’re trying to expand our awareness of the theatre of this era.
The Future Is Now: Conversations with Leyli Gafarova and Elena Ishchenko
11 November 2021
In these episodes of The Future Is Now, two CEC Artslink Future Fellows—Azerbaijan-based filmmaker Leyli Gafarova and Russian art curator and researcher Elena Ischenko—discuss their vision for the future of arts practice.
The Future Is Now: Conversations with Selma Banich and Fatin Farhat
10 November 2021
In these episodes of The Future Is Now, CEC Artslink invites two of their Future Fellows, artist and activist Selma Banich and freelance cultural manager Fatin Farhat, to discuss how they envision the future of arts practice.
A Theatre for the Oppressed? Dr. Amy Richlin on Slavery and Plautus
10 November 2021
The ancient Roman comedies of Plautus have inspired playwrights from Shakespeare to Sondheim. But they've also been seen as grim reminders of the oftentimes horrifying world of ancient Rome, where violence and slavery were commonplace. Dr. Amy Richlin joins Mike Lueger to talk about her book Slave Theater in the Roman Republic, which explores how Plautus's plays gave voice to enslaved persons during this era.
The Future Is Now: Conversations with Amirah Sackett, Malika Umarova, and Marat Raiymkulov
9 November 2021
In these episodes of The Future Is Now, CEC Artslink invites three of their Future Fellows—Amirah Sackett, an independent artist and activist, and Malika Umarova and Marat Raiymkulov of Art Group 705—to share their vision for how they see the future of arts practice.
The Future Is Now: Conversations with Cannupa Hanska Luger and Qondiswa James
8 November 2021
In these episodes of The Future Is Now, CEC Artslink invites cultural worker Qondiswa James and mixed media artist Cannupa Hanska Luger, two of Artslink’s Future Fellows, to discuss their artistic work, practices, and visions for the future.
Lady Romeo: Learning About Nineteenth-Century Actress Charlotte Cushman with Tana Wojczuk
3 November 2021
In the nineteenth century, Charlotte Cushman became United States’ first celebrity actress. Tana Wojczuk, who has written a new biography of Cushman, joins the Mike Lueger to talk about the actress’s remarkable life both on stage and off.
Sharpening Our Oyster Knives: Revisiting What to Send Up When It Goes Down
Bonus Episode
1 November 2021
On this special episode of Daughters of Lorraine, hosts Leticia Ridley and Jordan Ealey sit down with Aleshea Harris and Whitney White, the playwright and director of the powerful, ritualistic play, What to Send Up When It Goes Down.
Introducing the University of Pittsburgh's August Wilson Archive
With Dr. Sandra Shannon and Bill Daw
27 October 2021
As the University of Pittsburgh prepares to make August Wilson’s archive publicly accessible, Dr. Sandra G. Shannon and William Daw join Mike Leuger to discuss Wilson’s flourishing legacy.
Regina Victor, artistic director of Slideshow Theatre Company, and Kaiser Ahmed, artistic director of Jackalope Theatre Company, discuss the joys and challenges of stepping into their Chicago-based positions as theatres across the United States recalibrate their programming.
Dr. Megan Sanborn Jones on Pageants and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
13 October 2021
In this week’s Theatre History Podcast, Dr. Megan Sanborn Jones discusses the history of Mormons in theatre and the pageant tradition in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Through her deep research on these pageants, Dr. Jones explores the unique fusion of faith, history, and performance in Mormon pageantry.
Reappraising the Legacy of Ernie McClintock with Dr. Ibby Cizmar
6 October 2021
Dr. Ibby Cizmar joins the Theatre History Podcast to share her research on Ernie McClintock, who worked to develop a system of training and performance that could serve the specific needs of African American actors in the mid-twentieth century. A significant influence in the Black Arts Movement, McClintock’s methods continue to influence institutions and theatremakers today.
Learning About the History—and Future—of Stand-up Comedy
With Rachel Blackburn
29 September 2021
Michael Lueger is joined by director, performer, and educator Dr. Rachel Blackburn to discuss diversity and intersectionality within the stand-up comedy world and how comics are engaging with social issues and movements.
Yura Sapi speaks with Rose Kim, founder and producing director of Art Rat Theatre. Art Rat Theatre is a production vehicle dedicated to gardening anticolonial, anti-capitalist theatre for a truly diverse new era audience and catalyzing a greater network of independent institutionally marginalized, young adult creatives.
On this special episode of Kunafa and Shay, Marina and Nabra are joined by actor and activist Yousof Sultani, who discusses his experiences in the theatre field as an Afghan American artist and the advocacy and community organizing he does for the people of Afghanistan.
The Politics of Rebuilding Theatrical and Civic Communities: Global Autocracy, Brexit, and Racism
16 September 2021
Verity Healey sits down with Javaad Alipoor to discuss themes that preoccupy Alipoor as a theatremaker and political person: racism, history, Brexit, international communities, politics, and how these things come into his work and collaborations with other artists.
Yura Sapi speaks with Eric Lockley, co-founder of the Movement Theatre Company. Lockley is a member of the company’s producing artistic leadership team, who work together to create an artistic social movement by developing and producing new works by artists of color. Their work engages audiences in a rich theatrical dialogue, enlightens communities to the important issues affecting our world, and empowers artists to celebrate the many sides of their unique voice.
Yura Sapi sits down with Ann James, founder of Intimacy Coordinators of Color, whose mission is to support and promote decolonized intimacy education and inclusive hiring practices in the entertainment industry.
Genevieve Beller and Elsa Hiltner discuss exploitation and abuse in the theatre field, pay equity, how there should always be space for people to learn and move forward in a better way, and more.