fbpx Recent Essays | HowlRound Theatre Commons

Recent Essays

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

actors onstage in masks
Essay

On the Young Critics Program at Front Porch Arts Collective in Boston

27 October 2019

Pascale Florestal talks about the lack of critics of color in theatre and creating a training program in Boston, through Front Porch Arts Collective, to counter this problem.

four actors onstage surrounding by an audience standing
Essay

Performed Masculinities in American Repertory Theater’s The Donkey Show

23 October 2019

James Montaño discusses The Donkey Show, cross-gendered performances vs. drag, camp as an aesthetic concept, and more.

a vintage show poster
Essay

Rethinking the Commoditized Theatre and the Public Space

22 October 2019

Charles M Pepiton discusses professional theatre’s commercial roots, how mission statements of non-profits today focus on social engagement, community-based development, and more.

two graphs: Are at least half the characters specified as females by the playwright. Are at least half of the characters specified as non-white by the playwright?
Essay

A Statistical Guide to US World Premieres in the 2019–20 Season

21 October 2019

Marshall Botvinick shares the results of the research he undertook about new plays premiering across the United States in the 2019–20 season: who is being produced, what characters are appearing on stage, and what forms and themes are common.

a group of actors onstage
Essay

Perspectives on Criticism and Playwriting

20 October 2019

Playwright/critic Ava Wong Davies talks to critic Maddy Costa and plawright Alice Birch about who reviews are for, responses to criticism, self-censorship, and more.

actors onstage
Essay

Women Finding Their Power in Cendrillon

17 October 2019

Shari Caplan discusses Opera del West’s recent production of Cendrillon at the Boston Center for the Arts.

screenshot
Essay
16 October 2019

Cultural organizer and producer Joon Lynn Goh speaks with Janna Graham, a research-based practitioner, curator, and lecturer, about connecting cultural work with political organizing.

a person seated and blindfolded
Essay
15 October 2019

Enid Brain discusses the experience of creating a piece of theatre in the dark, the theory of “rasa,” the act of performance, and more.

shadows of legs walking
Essay
13 October 2019

Goran Tomka looks at what audience development is, the phenomenon of an implied or implicit audience, decolonizing institutions, and more.

A group of theatre artists sitting around a conference table with a projector screen in the background.
Essay
10 October 2019

In honor of World Commons Week 2019, a working group of eleven US-based arts and cultural makers share their vision on how adopting a commons-based approach can help transform the arts into a more equitable and just field.

Or Browse By Topic

Diversity, Inclusion, Visibility

Ideas & Research

Form, Genre, Style

Vocation & Careers

Language

By Country

U.S. by State

Subscribe to HowlRound

Sign up for our daily, weekly, or quarterly emails so you never miss the latest theatre conversations.

Sign me up

Support HowlRound

We fundraise to keep all our programs free and open and to pay our contributors. Thank you to all who make our work possible!

Donate today