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Recent Essays

This is a repository of written content, sorted by most recent to oldest. Enjoy!

A group of people sit in a circle listening to a speaker.
Viewpoints for Achieving Authentic Representation of Roma Communities on Stage
Essay

Viewpoints for Achieving Authentic Representation of Roma Communities on Stage

27 March 2024

Tímea Éva Bogya, dramaturg and project manager for Independent Theater Hungary and critic for Színház Magazine, explores questions for theatremakers to ask themselves before portraying Roma communities on stage to ensure authentic representation. 

A group of performers hang in small hammocks onstage.
Should We Write Differently About Roma Theatre?
Essay

Should We Write Differently About Roma Theatre?

25 March 2024

Noémi Herczog, theatre critic and scholar based in Hungary and Romania, explores the question of how critics should be writing about Roma theatre. Should they take the social position of the Roma into account, or write purely about the art itself?   

A woman performs in front of audience members wearing masks.
We Can’t Build an Equitable Theatre While Ignoring COVID
Essay

We Can’t Build an Equitable Theatre While Ignoring COVID

21 March 2024

Taylor Leigh Lamb argues that building the equitable theatre industry requires robust COVID precautions with steps like masking, air filtration, and advocacy within our theatrical spaces.

Deen Rawlins-Harris stands in front of a scenic vista.
Building Trust in New Waters as a Teaching-Artist
Essay

Building Trust in New Waters as a Teaching-Artist

19 March 2024

Teaching-artist Deen Rawlins-Harris reflects on their time facilitating an educational theatre residency at a school in St. John, United States Virgin Islands (STJ). They viewed Cinnamon Bay, a beach in STJ, as a teacher, and learned lessons that helped them have a stronger connection to students and reject settler colonial, hierarchical teaching structures.

A group of people watch a presented projected on a screen.
The Latinx Theatre Commons’s Next Cycle of Programming
Essay

The Latinx Theatre Commons’s Next Cycle of Programming

18 March 2024

The Latinx Theatre Commons will produce five convenings focusing on new Latinx musicals, Latinx actor training, and more between 2024 and 2027.

Two people pose in graduation attire.
Teaching Dramaturgy as a Creative Practice 
Essay

Teaching Dramaturgy as a Creative Practice 

13 March 2024

Jessica Elaine Ellison challenges training programs to position dramaturgs as creatives. Through this framing, these programs have the opportunity to expand and innovate in the way that embraces the expansiveness of dramaturgs working in the field. 

Two actors perform onstage.
Recovery, Witness, and Peer-to-Peer Support
Essay

Recovery, Witness, and Peer-to-Peer Support

8 March 2024

Multidisciplinary theatre artist Regina Victor (Pharoah) and playwright and director Sean Daniels discuss navigating being in recovery from addiction within the theatre industry, what recovering artists need, and the power of witnessing.

Five actors in suits stand in front of TVs reading The Iraq Inquiry
How LUNG Is Breathing Radical Joy into Theatre in the United Kingdom
Essay

How LUNG Is Breathing Radical Joy into Theatre in the United Kingdom

5 March 2024

verity healey speaks to Matt Woodhead and Helen Monks, co-directors of LUNG, about LUNG’s work making campaign theatre that uses verbatim theatre strategies and associated political work to explore issues impacting the United Kingdom.

Three actors rehearse a scene with large pieces of blue fabric.
Recasting, Restorying, and Restructuring Shakespeare for Liberation
Essay

Recasting, Restorying, and Restructuring Shakespeare for Liberation

4 March 2024

Educator Rainier Pearl-Styles recounts their experience of devising a show in response to Shakespeare’s Macbeth, using tenets of Paolo Freire’s theory of liberatory education. Through recasting, restorying, and restructuring, the participants were able to use Shakespeare as a tool for understanding power and identity.  

A group of people ask questions to a panel.
Towards a Sustainable Theatre Model
Essay

Towards a Sustainable Theatre Model

27 February 2024

Scott Walters, author of Building a Sustainable Theater: How to Remove Gatekeepers and Take Control of Your Artistic Career, sits down with Munroe Shearer to discuss the ways artist-owned theatres can succeed and best serve their communities. 

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