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Aesthetics

In this section, dive into conversations focused on beauty, taste, and the artistic choices made while creating performance. Check out Brendan McCall’s Beyond Ibsen series, which features contemporary Norwegian theatremakers, and Jonathan Mandell’s essay “Pandemic Theatre Aesthetic,” which discusses the immediate artistic responses of theatremakers in the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

The Latest

The Amateur Botanist Talks Merrily Into the Night: Some Notes on Neurodivergent Performance (and How to Make It)
Essay
The Amateur Botanist Talks Merrily Into the Night: Some Notes on Neurodivergent Performance (and How to Make It)
by Rob Onorato
12 December 2023
Digging for Bones with Topdog/Underdog
Podcast
Digging for Bones with Topdog/Underdog
by Leticia Ridley, Jordan Ealey
15 November 2023
Scattered, but Not Apart: A Two-Sided Story
Essay
Scattered, but Not Apart: A Two-Sided Story
by Carl(os) Roa, Rula(s) A. Muñoz
26 October 2023
Occupy, Hope, Exchange
Essay

Occupy, Hope, Exchange

A (Sort of) Travelogue

6 February 2012

 

Brandon Woolf describes what he learned from taking part in the Occupy Wall Street movement at University of California Berkley, and how that applies to creating theater that embraces Occupy's spirit of public openness.

 

Portrait of P. Carl.
Burning Down A House
Essay

Burning Down A House

2 February 2012

P. Carl breaks down how the aesthetics, complexities, and high stakes in a play like Lisa D’Amour’s Detroit, create disruptive theatre.

Portrait of Timothy Douglas.
The Benefits of Slavery
Essay

The Benefits of Slavery

30 January 2012

Timothy Douglas writes about his resignation from Chicago’s Remy Bumppo Theatre Company.

Matthew Ocks
Playwriting All-Stars to the Rescue
Essay

Playwriting All-Stars to the Rescue

26 January 2012

Matthew Ocks examines the question of a playwright's duty to write a "topical" play.

 

Many actors raise their hands onstage.
A Slushy in the Face
Essay

A Slushy in the Face

Musical Theater Music and the Uncool

12 December 2011

Musical theatre composer Dave Malloy questions why musical theatre has become uncool and makes a case for authenticity in the theatre.

Actors rehearse for a play.
Make It Hurt So Good
Essay

Make It Hurt So Good

8 December 2011

Miriam Weisfeld ruminates on whether art should hurt, examining the dynamics of visual art, theatre, and American culture.

Portrait of P. Carl.
A HowlRound Thanksgiving Retrospective Roundup
Essay

A HowlRound Thanksgiving Retrospective Roundup

23 November 2011

P.Carl, a founder of HowlRound highlights some quotes from articles published in the first year of HowlRound.

WE Are the National Aesthetic
Essay

WE Are the National Aesthetic

7 November 2011

This is a transcipt of Claudia Atkin's "catalyst speaker” speech she delivered on August 14, 2011 for NET’s National Ensemble Summit 2011: Rowdy, Radical, and Relevant!, using musical accopmiment.

The word yes in multicolored font.
A Theater of YES!
Essay

A Theater of YES!

3 October 2011

P.Carl meditates on the power of saying Yes instead of No to new ideas.

Multicolored social media logos on a black background.
Opt In
Essay

Opt In

31 August 2011

From social media posts from interns, to the "important stuff" institutional leaders handle, what in orgnizational culture needs to change, so aspiring and creative minds are not stifled by rigid hierarchies.

The cover of Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who.
The Horton Lens
Essay

The Horton Lens

28 August 2011

From Horton Hears a Who, Jeni Mahoney connects the world of Dr. Seuss' book to the theatre world, drawing a line from Jo-Jo and Whoville to playwrights and artists.

An illustration of cartoonish tan figures against a black background.
On Theatricality
Essay

On Theatricality

22 August 2011

Following up to a piece for the Brooklyn Rail on Gesamtkunstwerk, playwright Lydia Stryk contrasts the German practice with contemporary American theatricality and collaborative practices.

The word "Taste" with a subtitle that reads "Tag team lectures on unrelated topics."
#excellent2awesome (in 140 characters or less)
Essay

#excellent2awesome (in 140 characters or less)

17 August 2011

Following the 2011 Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas Conference, Aaron Malkin formulates how theatre artists can exceed “excellence” and make a commitment to “awesomeness”

A portrait of Kirk Lynn
Prayer for a Bad Performance
Essay

Prayer for a Bad Performance

10 July 2011

A poem on being the perfect audience.

Three actors of "culture clash" stare into the camera.
A Manifesto
Essay

A Manifesto

22 June 2011

Richard Montoya, of the theater group Culture Clash, delivers his theatrical manifesto; one of outside the lines, in every way.

Portrait of Jonathon Moscone.
Towards an Anxious Theatre
Essay

Towards an Anxious Theatre

15 June 2011

Jonathon Moscone, an American theatre director, examines the question of what purpose do theatres serve, and advocates for the abandoning of fear in governing theatrical choices, and the embracement of unease, so that we can create theatre that takes the real time to listen to the current of our lives.

An illustration of hands pulling a silhouette towards the edge of the image.
My Body, My Words
Essay

My Body, My Words

6 June 2011

Tracing the family she's created artistically and socially, Virginia Grise writes about art-making as a process of survival, self-actualization, and community building.

The Peaceful Warrior
Essay

The Peaceful Warrior

What's Fabulous Got to Do with It

1 June 2011

The playwright James Still mueses on creativity, the role of the inner and outer creativity, and finding happiness in unlikely places in the journey of creating new work for his keynote adress at the Cohen New Works Festival at the University of Texas at Austin on March 28th, 2011.

Portrait of P. Carl.
Was I Born This Way?
Essay

Was I Born This Way?

22 May 2011

P. Carl narrates his evolution of finding his place in the creative field of theater, and the way the nature and expression of creativity in theatre is tied into the nature of philosophical argument.

Portrait of Marisa Chibas.
Interview with Marissa Chibas
Essay

Interview with Marissa Chibas

11 May 2011

Daniel Alexander Jones interviews Marissa Chibas, an actor and writer, on the need for aesthetic diversity on contemporary American stages.

Bad Influences
Essay

Bad Influences

8 May 2011

Playwright Max "Bunny" Sparber attributes his playwrighting style to artists throughout history who use misbehaviors to captivate their audience.

A poster that reads "Beatbox: A Raparetta."
The Tuedelband Plays On
Essay

The Tuedelband Plays On

4 April 2011

Dan Wolf discovers the artistic legacy of his ancestors and uses that as inspiration to deepen his own artistic vision.

The cover of Theresa Rebeck's book "Free Fire Zone."
Playwrights
Essay

Playwrights

Collaborators or Contractors?

30 March 2011

Jayne Benjulian considers the rightful place of a playwright in the rehearsal room as the executive producer of his or her own work.

Peace and Trauma, Part II
Essay

Peace and Trauma, Part II

27 March 2011

Erik Ehn furthers his exploration into theatre for social change by focusing on the vocabulary of used to create art that challenges and energizes us to rise above the trauma toward peace.

Trauma and Peace, Part 1
Essay

Trauma and Peace, Part 1

10 March 2011

Erik Ehn takes on theatre for social change, and the need to create art that challenges and energizes us to rise above the trauma toward peace.