Recent Essays

To understand the impact of the 2025 Fornés Institute Symposium, one must look to both the events on the schedule and the space in-between and on the side—the conversations, reunions, sparks of mentorship. Carla Della Gatta details these various interwoven sites of connection and collaboration.

Is New York theatre backsliding into a less equitable industry? Emily Chackerian writes about the very real worry triggered by recent season announcements that seemed to elide female playwrights—and the solution-minded responses the community offered at a recent town hall.

When Stage Left Theatre went looking for a space to produce The Distrikt of Lake Michigun, they turned to Chicago’s history of storefront theatre. Seth Wilson details the company’s process of successfully staging a production in an empty mall storefront.

Online theatre spaces can promote accessibility, democratic processes, international connections, and ecological benefits, but many digital platforms act as intermediaries that disrupt storytelling for their own profit. L. Nicol Cabe considers this paradox and offers potential paths forward.

Parrots at the Pagoda imagines an afterworld where parrots guide Puerto Rican drag performer Johnny Rodriguez through memories of his life. In this journey, Citlali Pizarro writes, the transformation of death and life into memory illuminates a queer Latinx theatricality that celebrates itself against erasure.

Through culturally responsive pedagogy, Bryan Stanton opened up their design classrooms to center student voices and value knowledge from many distinct cultures. They reflect on the practices they used to usher in this transformation and the profound impact it has had on students.

Fifty Boxes of Earth at Theater Mu was a maximalist play that combined Western and South Asian theatrical styles, choreography, and puppetry. Lianna Matt McLernon and playwright Ankita Raturi talk about the show’s collective approach and how it was created to be reproduced for any specific community.

Teatru Malta’s 1881 infused immersive theatre with game design, all in a dark, castle-like setting. After witnessing 1881 and other Maltese performances, critic Jonathan Mandell is left questioning the evolving forms and definitions of immersive theatre.

“Add Theater to Taste” was the recent theme of the annual Iloilo Theater Festival in the Philippines. Heritage language learner Amanda L. Andrei shares how the shows used food to explore deeper social issues and how her experience in the audience connected her more deeply to her roots.