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David Dower

David is a co-founder of HowlRound, the artistic director of ArtsEmerson, and a Vice President at Emerson College. Priors: Z Collective, Z Space, Arena Stage.

David Dower (he/him) began his journey as a theatre producer in San Francisco, where he founded Z Space and produced more than fifty productions over a twenty-year span. David led Z Space for twelve years before assuming the role of associate artistic director at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. In six seasons there he oversaw the production of three Tony-winning shows (33 Variations, Next to Normal, and Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf) and the development of three shows that ultimately earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (Next to Normal, Fun Home, and Sweat). David then became artistic director at ArtsEmerson in Boston, where he presented several seasons of international theatre in four venues in the city’s theatre district. He returned to San Francisco at the end of 2020 to assume the role of executive producer for the 7 Fingers United States operations and lead the Club Fugazi project. David is a founder of HowlRound Theatre Commons.

two people posing for a photo seated in front a marbled grey background
Knowing It’s Time to Go / Savoir quand partir
Essay

Knowing It’s Time to Go / Savoir quand partir

A Conversation on Passing the Torch of Artistic Leadership / Discussion sur le passage du flambeau de la direction artistique  

4 February 2021

David Dower and Martin Faucher discuss leaving their leadership positions at Boston’s ArtsEmerson and Montreal’s Festival TransAmériques, respectively; the balance between artistic responsibility and activist responsibility as artistic leaders; passing the torch to the next generation; and more. / David Dower, directeur artistique du ArtsEmerson de Boston, et Martin Faucher, codirecteur général et directeur artistique du Festival TransAmériques de Montréal, discutent de leur départ respectif, de l’équilibre entre la responsabilité artistique et la responsabilité militante en tant que directeur artistique, du passage du flambeau à la prochaine génération, et plus.

balcony view of parable of the sower
Answering the Call to Pause
Essay

Answering the Call to Pause

On Deciding to Postpone Due to COVID-19

2 April 2020

David Dower and David Howse—artistic director and executive director of ArtsEmerson, respectively—talk with artist Toshi Reagon about the decision to postpone her show due to COVID-19, and how that decision came from a place of power and progress.

a large group of protesters with a Chilean flag
Theatremaking During Political Crisis
Essay

Theatremaking During Political Crisis

A Conversation with Chilean Playwright Guillermo Calderón

19 November 2019

ArtsEmerson Artistic Director David Dower speaks with Chilean playwright Guillermo Calderón about the ongoing protests in Chile.

a book cover
A Time to Grow Our Souls
Essay

A Time to Grow Our Souls

On the Foundry Theatre’s New Book A Moment on the Clock of the World

4 November 2019

David Dower writes about the sunsetting of New York City’s Foundry Theatre, the company’s new book, A Moment on the Clock of the World, and the impact co-founder Melanie Joseph has had.

three concentric circles with the text "why" "how" and "what"
Now What?
Essay

Now What?

Finding the "Why" in a Leadership Transition

14 April 2019

David Dower, artistic director of ArtsEmerson, reflects on the many recent leadership changes in North American theatre and asks, “What now?”

David Dower and David Howse stand next to each other.
A User’s Guide to Leadership Transition in the North American Theatre
Essay

A User’s Guide to Leadership Transition in the North American Theatre

14 October 2018

David Dower, artistic director of ArtsEmerson, introduces the leadership series with thoughts and advice from his past experiences with major leadership transitions over his thirty-year career.

college ambassador logo
Welcome to the New HowlRound
Essay

Welcome to the New HowlRound

2 October 2018

Today, we are proud to welcome you to a brand new HowlRound website!

Seven Years in
Essay

Seven Years in

HowlRound Theatre Commons Evolves

9 January 2018

HowlRound staff articulate HowlRound's mission, vision, and values, and discuss how folks can participate in creating the commons. 

It Can Happen Here
Essay

It Can Happen Here

5 October 2016

David Dower talks with Tony Taccone about his adaptation of It Can’t Happen Here at Berkeley Rep, and what it means for an institution to program a new work that speaks directly to our present moment.

Long Arc Relationships
Essay

Long Arc Relationships

Interview with Daniel Beaty and David Dower

6 November 2015

Adewunmi Oke interviews artist Daniel Beaty and Artistic Director David Dower about their longstanding working relationship.

How a Season Comes Together
Essay

How a Season Comes Together

29 August 2015

ArtsEmerson Artistic Director David Dower shares the process behind programming the company’s 2015/2016 season.

Friday Phone Call # 71
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 71

Michael Rohd

16 January 2015

In today’s Friday Phone Call, David Dower talks to Michael Rohd of Soujourn Theatre and the Center for Performance and Civic Practice.

Friday Phone Call # 70
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 70

Will Power

14 November 2014

In today’s Friday Phone Call, David Dower talks to playwright Will Power.

Friday Phone Call # 69
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 69

Liz Lerman

29 August 2014

Today my guest is the inestimable Liz Lerman. Listeners may mostly be familiar with Liz through her Critical Response Process, which is in use around the world as a system for managing the feedback process around new work. We get into her current thinking around this work, first developed when she was making work through her company, Dance Exchange. Liz is now a freelance dance and theater maker and educator and was the originator of an ambitious multi-institutional project commemorating the Civil War—a project still underway.

Friday Phone Call # 68
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 68

Catalyst gathering at the National Black Theatre

1 August 2014

Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week, David talks with three people involved in the Catalyst gathering at the National Black Theatre: Jonathan McCrory, Sade Lithcott, and Deadria Harrington.

Friday Phone Call # 67
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 67

Artistic Director Ed Herendeen of Contemporary American Theater Festival

11 July 2014

Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: Ed Herendeen, Artistic Director of the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Friday Phone Call # 66
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 66

playwright Tracey Scott Wilson

27 June 2014

Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theatre artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: Tracey Scott Wilson. 

Friday Phone Call # 65
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 65

Marc Kudisch

20 June 2014

Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: Marc Kudisch.

Portrait of Clyde Valentin.
Friday Phone Call # 64
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 64

Clyde Valentín

13 June 2014

So my friend Clyde Valentín is my guest today on the Friday Phone Call. I seem to be in a mood around friends in transition. As with Deb Cullinan and Todd London, Clyde recently began a new adventure after a long stretch as the Executive Director of The Hip Hop Theater Festival. He has taken on the job of leading a new initiative at Southern Methodist University in Dallas: The Arts and Urbanism Initiative. Clyde is very much in the conceptual days of this project—he has been in place for just a few months thus far. I love hearing him think out loud about the path at SMU, the path for HHTF and him, and the role of a university in community. Clyde is also a key organizer of the Latino Theater Commons but we will have to get back on the phone another time to get that whole story.

Friday Phone Call # 63
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 63

Richard Montoya of Culture Clash

6 June 2014

This week on Friday Phone Call, David Dower talks to Richard Montoya, playwright and a co-founder of Culture Clash.

Friday Phone Call # 62
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 62

janera solomon of Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Pittsburgh

30 May 2014

Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: janera solomon, the Executive Director of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh.

Portrait of Todd London.
Friday Phone Call # 61
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 61

Todd London

23 May 2014

Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theatre artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: Todd London.

Friday Phone Call #60
Podcast

Friday Phone Call #60

Gender Identity in Theater—Jess Barbagallo and P. Carl

16 May 2014

Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week's guests: Jess Barbagallo and P. Carl.

Friday Phone Call # 60
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 60

Eric Ting, Associate Artistic Director of Long Wharf Theatre

9 May 2014

Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: Eric Ting, Associate Artistic Director at the Long Wharf in New Haven, CT.

Friday Phone Call # 59
Podcast

Friday Phone Call # 59

Leah Karpel, Marc Pierre, and Michael Anthony Williams

3 May 2014

So, today is something completely different. I talk with Leah Karpel, Marc Pierre, and Michael Anthony Williams—each of whom was involved in a production of Jackie Sibblies Drury's "We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About The Herero Of Namibia, Formerly Known As Southwest Africa, From The German Sudwestafrika Between The Years 1884-1915."