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Michael Rohd

Michael Rohd (he/him/his) is a theatre-maker, educator, process designer, writer and facilitator. His research and creative practice is focused on civic imagination. He has a 30+ year history of projects across sectors bringing cultural activity to the work of public engagement, community planning and cross-sector coalition building. In 1992 in Washington DC he co-founded Hope Is Vital, an arts & public health program that, over 8 years, helped start up theatre-based public engagement/HIV prevention coalitions in over 80 communities around the US. In 1999, he co-founded Sojourn Theatre and served as artistic director for 20 years. In 2012, he co-founded Center for Performance and Civic Practice, a collective of nine artist/facilitators who work with organizations and agencies around the country on community research, transformational process and system change. He is currently Civic Collaborations Director for One Nation One Project, a national arts/municipality/public health project & research cohort in partnership with National League of Cities; he is co-designer/co-facilitator for Art-Train, a virtual national technical assistance program in partnership with Springboard for the Arts; and he is co-creator/co-director on Sojourn Theatre’s touring show Don’t Go. He recently founded the Co-Lab for Civic Imagination at the University of Montana, and he is author of the book Theatre for Community, Conflict and Dialogue (Heinemann Press).

 

Two actors sit across from each other at a small square table during a show.
Civic Imagination: The Urgency of Possibility
Essay

Civic Imagination: The Urgency of Possibility

27 February 2023

Theatre artist Michael Rohd shares a lyrical call for more civic imagination, community care, and care-centric processes in the theatre field.

From the Ground Up Podcast image featuring Michael Rohd.
Civic-Minded and Morally-Guided Practices
Podcast

Civic-Minded and Morally-Guided Practices

5 January 2022

The job of the facilitator, the logic of shared leadership, and how it all translates to directing a process. Michael Rohd stands at the forefront of ensemble-based practices equipped with questions about how we create the future that we want to be working in socially, civically, and artistically. Join us as we unpack and define what’s next.

three people sitting on a stage with a projection behind them
What Is the Role of the Artist Today?
Essay

What Is the Role of the Artist Today?

13 October 2020

Michael Rohd shares an edited version of a recent talk he gave at the Clarke Forum, Dickinson College, on the role of art and artists today.

Working With(In) Communities/ Trabajando Con y Para la Comunidad
Essay

Working With(In) Communities/ Trabajando Con y Para la Comunidad

Modeling Decolonized Practices/Las Practicas Hacia La Descolonización

31 May 2018

Director Megan Sandberg-Zakian talks with representatives of organizations which are intentionally working towards decolonized practices.

Open and Roving Rehearsals
Essay

Open and Roving Rehearsals

7 October 2016

Michael Rohd and Maureen Towey share an excerpt from their new book The Penelope Project: An Arts-Based Odyssey to Change Elder Care, writing about creating and rehearsing a show in a retirement community.

Translations—CPCP Update 3
Essay

Translations—CPCP Update 3

New Civic Practice Case Studies

18 August 2015

Michael Rohd with an update on the Center for Performance and Civic Practice’s Catalyst Initiative. 

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.

About Ensembles and Universities
Essay

About Ensembles and Universities

100 Questions, 3 Ideas, 1 Story and a Ghost

16 November 2014

Offering insight into the relationship between ensembles and universities, Michael Rohd shares the text of a talk he gave at the Network of Ensemble Theaters.

 

CPCP logo.
Translations—CPCP Update 2
Essay

Translations—CPCP Update 2

The Catalyst Initiative

18 November 2013

Kati Sweaney interviews Michael Rohd about what and how the Catalyst Initiative promotes arts-based practices in meaningful community activities.

Translations—CPCP Update 1
Essay

Translations—CPCP Update 1

Lookingglass Theater and the Civic Practice Lab

3 November 2013

Through a series of questions, Michael Rohd gives an update on the pursuits and accomplishments working with Lookingglass Theater Company on the new Civic Practice Lab. 

The Ideology of Dialogue
Essay

The Ideology of Dialogue

2 September 2013

Michael Rohd continues the series on the intersection of political ideology and art in their work. We know that content is political... but how can form dictate a play's mission as well?

Logo for Audience Revolution.
Translations
Essay

Translations

Listening is the new Revolution

21 February 2013

Michael Rohd writes about the importance of listening when collaborating with civic partners, and how sharing assets may just be the key to uniting theaters with the communities they serve.

An actor kneels on a tilted chair with their other leg extended, which a second actor holds while two more actors watch.
LEAN IN
Essay

LEAN IN

Sojourn Theatre, Civic Practice & Catholic Charities USA

12 January 2013
Translations
Essay

Translations

The Distinction Between Social & Civic Practice and Why I Find It Useful

1 September 2012

Michael Rohd responds to Andy Horowitz's essay with how he delineates social and civil practice

An abstract illustration of two silhouettes reaching for each other.
The New Work of Building Civic Practice
Essay

The New Work of Building Civic Practice

9 July 2012

The needs of non-arts organizations, and theatre artists' assets can intersect through Civic Practice. This guide from Michael Rohd offers examples of application and what this work can accomplish.

Scrabble letter arranged to spell the word engage.
Translations
Essay

Translations

Engaging Engagement

7 April 2012

This column, published every 4-6 weeks, examines issues of translation as they relate to the field of theatre and its intersections with other public and civic sectors. This edition: audience engagement.

Michael Rohd teaching in front of several people sitting in chairs.
Interview with Michael Rohd
Essay

Interview with Michael Rohd

8 March 2012

Rebecca Novick interviews Michael Rohd, founding artistic director of Sojourn Theatre, about audience engagement, measure of success, and how location informs art.

Translations
Essay

Translations

The Job of the Future

3 March 2012

Michael Rohd talks about the role of translation in data science and its connection to theatre in this new column, dedicated to discussing the role of translation in theatre.

Civic Theater
Essay

Civic Theater

Part 2

28 November 2011

Michael Rohd details the how, the why and the what of his approach to making civic theater.

Civic Theater
Essay

Civic Theater

29 May 2011

Part one of Michael Rohd's look at "How does the work we do impact, intersect with and contribute to a healthy, functional democracy?"

Civic Practice, Theatre, and Arts-Based, Community Led Transformation
List

Civic Practice, Theatre, and Arts-Based, Community Led Transformation

A batch of articles that investigate, in their own ways, questions such as: what we mean by engagement; who is changing what for whom when we talk about ‘change’ work; and how theatre, democracy and aesthetics can intersect within a framework of justice-aimed values and intentions.

Translations 
Series

Translations 

This column examines issues of translation as they relate to the field of theatre and its intersections with other public and civic sectors.