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Interviews

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!

The Latest

Innovating Theatre with Tiffany Vega
Podcast
Innovating Theatre with Tiffany Vega
by Yura Sapi, Tiffany Vega-Gibson
2 May 2024
On Reinventing the Canon
Podcast
On Reinventing the Canon
by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, Yizhou Huang, Nathan Davis
30 April 2024
Elevating Indigenous Perspectives with Rhiana Yazzie
Podcast
Elevating Indigenous Perspectives with Rhiana Yazzie
by Yura Sapi, Rhiana Yazzie
18 April 2024
youtube screenshot
“Model User Behavior”
Essay

“Model User Behavior”

13 January 2021

As part of the Performing the Internet series, Martim Galvão and Todd Anderson have a conversation about the unconscious “performance” and emotional journey of web browsing, internet mixtapes, building websites for performance, and more.

a person seated at a desk with a large projection to their left
Dawn of the Digital Apocalypse
Essay

Dawn of the Digital Apocalypse

Alchemy, Narrative, and Dismantling Borders in the Virtual World

12 January 2021

Anchuli Felicia King and Adam Cooper-Terán talk about how the object of the internet functions in their creative work, the ethics of the internet, digital apocalypse art, and more.

digital theatre screenshot
Reverse-Engineering Zoom with Isadora
Essay

Reverse-Engineering Zoom with Isadora

Site-Specific Performance for the Internet

4 January 2021

Barbara Fuchs chats with director and designer Jared Mezzocchi about his digital theatre production Russian Troll Farm, how to reverse-engineer Zoom, Isadora as the way forward, and more.

Jonathan Castanien and The Sống Collective
Podcast

Jonathan Castanien and The Sống Collective

Building Our Own Tables Episode #3

23 December 2020

In the third episode of Build Our Own Tables podcast, host Viviana Vargas interviews Jonathan Castanien co-founder and co-producing artistic leader of The Sống Collective, which uplifts work that pushes against preconceptions of Asian Americans and reclaims the Vietnamese American narrative. Your donation to Advancing Arts Forward supports liberated spaces that uplift, heal and encourage us to change the world.

Lauren E. Turner and No Dream Deferred
Podcast

Lauren E. Turner and No Dream Deferred

Building Our Own Tables Episode #2

16 December 2020

In the second episode of Build Our Own Tables podcast, host Viviana Vargas interviews Lauren E. Turner of No Dream Deferred, a community anchored theatre production company in New Orleans, Louisiana. Your donation to Advancing Arts Forward supports liberated spaces that uplift, heal and encourage us to change the world.

two actors onstage
Managing the Impact of the Pandemic
Essay

Managing the Impact of the Pandemic

15 December 2020

Patrick Myers speaks with managing directors Emika Abe and Sarah Williams about how their experience managing the impact of the pandemic has shaped their views on art in virtual spaces, leadership amidst crisis, and the future of the American theatre.

hana sharif seated in a theatre
Claiming Our Space with Hana Sharif
Podcast

Claiming Our Space with Hana Sharif

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast Season 2 Episode 6

25 November 2020

For the last episode of season two of the Daughters of Lorraine Podcast, hosts Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley talk with Hana S. Sharif about her journey to becoming one of the first Black women to be artistic director of a regional theatre, managing in a pandemic, her thoughts on the current state of American theatre, and more.

two actors' shadows onstage
Art as a Force for Good
Essay

Art as a Force for Good

A Conversation with Malaysian Theatre Artist Sabera Shaik

17 November 2020

Jennifer Rodrigo sits down in conversation with Sabera Shaik, the artistic director of Malaysia’s Masakini Theatre Company, about the country’s fragmented arts community, shadow theatre, and more.

triptych of three clowns
A Very Very Very Serious Clown from Lebanon
Essay

A Very Very Very Serious Clown from Lebanon

10 November 2020

Amrita Dhaliwal and Nathaniel Justiniano speak with Lebanese humanitarian clown Sabine Choucair, covering the differences between clowning and bouffon, joining the revolution, environmental work, and more.

zoom video chat of four people
Devised Experiments in Breaking Zoom
Essay

Devised Experiments in Breaking Zoom

6 October 2020

Carrie Klewin Lawrence and Amy Clare Tasker have a conversation about devising online, if that’s considered “theatre” or not, audience participation, and more.

a chess board being video recorded
Making Theatre, or Something Else Entirely, in a Pandemic
Essay

Making Theatre, or Something Else Entirely, in a Pandemic

On Protests and Virtual Performance

16 September 2020

Soyica Colbert sits down with playwright Natsu Onoda Power to talk about protesting against the United States military presence in Okinawa, Japan; in-person audiences versus virtual ones, Natsu’s new piece Okiniawa Demo Reel, and more.

two actors onstage
What Playwrights Can Learn from Intimacy Directors
Essay

What Playwrights Can Learn from Intimacy Directors

A Conversation with Gaby Labotka

1 September 2020

Playwright Hallie Palladino chats with intimacy director Gaby Labotka about how intimacy directors approach scripts, the importance of a well-chosen adverb, and the necessity of innovation, now more than ever, to keep performers healthy and safe.

actors onstage
Dismantling Anti-Black Language
Essay

Dismantling Anti-Black Language

27 August 2020

Holly Derr interviews Lavina Jadhwani about the document she created called Dismantling Anti-Black Linguistic Racism in Theatre, which offers several examples of potentially anti-Black language, such as Ethiopian, master, and minstrel; their use in Shakespeare; why they might be problematic; and possible substitutions.

zoom video chat of several people
Melted Snow on Virtual Stages
Essay

Melted Snow on Virtual Stages

26 August 2020

Seattle-based Jasmine Mahmoud talks to New York–based Autumn Knight about Knight’s recent performance Our Water is Melted Snow, geography and audiences, and staging and presence across screens.

two actors onstage
Creating Authentic Stories Through Collaboration
Essay

Creating Authentic Stories Through Collaboration

On Devised Theatre in the US

23 July 2020

Holly Holsinger, India Nicole Burton, Olivia Lilley, and Stefan Brün talk about devising in the United States, how each artist works differently, the future of American theatre, and more.

seven actors onstage
From México to Cataluña
Essay

From México to Cataluña

Performing Migration in Mexicatas / Realizar la migración en Mexicatas

9 July 2020

Mariela Lopez Flores speaks with Ariadna Ferreira—one of the creators of the show Mexicatas—about the realities of migration, Catalan vs. Mexican cultures, and more. / Mariela López habla con Ariadna Ferreira—una de las creadoras de la obra de teatro Mexicatas—sobre las realidades de la migración, la cultura catalana vs la cultura mexicana, y más.

a group of students in movement with ruther kanner in the center
Throw Away the Script
Essay

Throw Away the Script

How Ruth Kanner Uses Stories to Amplify a Polyphony of Voices

16 June 2020

Flo Low interviews Israeli theatremaker Ruth Kanner about what she calls “storytelling theatre,” her experience teaching in an American classroom, the impact of cross-cultural exchange, and more.

four actors onstage
Navigating Indigenous Storytelling with Mixed Company
Essay

Navigating Indigenous Storytelling with Mixed Company

20 May 2020

Keith Barker and Lindsay Lachance talk about the challenges and rewards of working in mixed company with Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, including what it’s like to navigate work with sensitive subject matter, including Indigenous histories and colonization.

two actors onstage
"Our Voices Are the Future of Theatre"
Essay

"Our Voices Are the Future of Theatre"

An Interview with Seven Latinx Playwrights During COVID-19

16 April 2020

Playwright Herbert Sigüenza talks to seven of his Latinx playwriting friends about how they’ve been affected by COVID-19, writing during this time, the future of Latinx theatre in the United States, and more.

a large group posing for a picture
Giving Yourself Permission to Leave
Essay

Giving Yourself Permission to Leave

Two Founding Artistic Leaders Discuss Stepping Down

26 March 2020

Michelle Hensley and Abe Rybeck—former founders and artistic directors of Minneapolis’s Ten Thousand Things and Boston’s the Theater Offensive, respectively—discuss their leadership transition, including knowing when to step back, succession planning, fears of leaving, and more.

three actors onstage
Roma Futurism and the Future of Roma Theatre
Essay

Roma Futurism and the Future of Roma Theatre

An Interview with Mihaela Drăgan

10 February 2020

HowlRound’s director, Jamie Gahlon, talks with theatremaker Mihaela Drăgan about contemporary Roma theatre and the artistic movement Roma Futurism.

three actors onstage
Stories from America’s Death Row
Essay

Stories from America’s Death Row

A Conversation with Lynden Harris

29 January 2020

Summer Robinson interviews playwright Lynden Harris about her work creating theatre with men on death row across the United States.

two actors onstage
Writing Comedy and Wielding Power
Essay

Writing Comedy and Wielding Power

27 January 2020

Madeleine George and Mike Lew talk about writing comedy for theatre, vulnerability as playwrights, working with different aesthetics, and more.

five people onstage
Existence and Persistence
Essay

Existence and Persistence

Spaces for Theatre Artists in Atlanta

23 January 2020

Frankie Mulinix speaks with Rob Mello, owner of Atlanta’s Rob Mello Studios, about the city’s artistic spaces, governmental and organizational support, the lack of arts coverage, and more.

three dancers under a yellow sheet
A Look at Atlanta's DIY Performance Scene
Essay

A Look at Atlanta's DIY Performance Scene

21 January 2020

Frankie Mulinix and Porter Grubbs introduce the three-part Atlanta series with a conversation about the city’s performance scene, building audiences, the importance of affordable spaces, and more.