Recent Essays

Anna Deavere Smith is not only a prolific playwright known widely for her verbatim theatre plays, but she is also a teacher with a distinct pedagogy. She speaks with her former student Alex Ates, who also teaches theatre, about her current approaches to teaching and how they have developed over the years.

The team at Shanty Theatre dove deep into Igbo mask and masquerade traditions to stage the largest of them all: the Ijele Masquerade. Angelea Okolo and Eseovwe Emakunu detail the research and creative process they used to bring the masquerade to Benin City, Nigeria.

Shebana Coelho reconnects with G. Venu, Sanskrit theatre practitioner and teacher of the Navarasa Sadhana workshop that changed her life. The two talk about this ancient theatrical practice, how it has manifested in both of their lives, and Venu’s journey to teaching this practice.

Through non-narrative rock numbers, Dan Fishback is Alive, Unwell, and Living in His Apartment targets contemporary societal betrayals, from COVID denialism to the genocide in Palestine. Taylor Leigh Lamb writes about the show’s genesis and its multi-pronged commitment to safety and access for audience and artists alike.

Kamilah Forbes reflects on the inherent rebellion in the gathering of artists at the Under the Radar festival, and shares how this is a critical moment for theatremakers to offer their complicated visions to the world.

Elizabeth Hess and Ludovica Villar-Hauser have both dedicated their theatrical careers to advocating for women and gender expansive theatre artists in different ways. The two got together to talk about why and how they have done so, and why that work has remained so necessary.

Many theatremakers across the United States abruptly lost funding for their projects in progress when the National Endowment for the Arts cancelled previously obligated grants. But funds are not the only crucial thing we are losing, as artist-scholar Sarah Wilbur highlights.

Collaborating with individual community members in a theatremaking process can greatly enrich a project, but the process is not simple. Jacob Buttry offers reflections to help artists structure their community-based theatre projects in a democratic way while respecting the time, labor, and capacity of all involved.

In the wake of shutdowns at the start of the COVID pandemic, some small theatres emerged that are experimenting with nontraditional business models of theatremaking. Roman Sanchez highlights these theatres and explains why they are so important to the future of our industry.

As the world continues to shift under the acts of the current United States presidential administration, the role that theatremakers play in shaping democracy is a hot topic in our industry. Tita Anntares recounts related learnings and conversations that took place at the Festival for Theatre and Democracy in 2024.