Anti-Racist Theatre

The Latest

Economic Transparency in the Commercial Theatre

Video

Economic Transparency in the Commercial Theatre

Let’s talk about how we talk about money

Thursday 15 April 2021

United States

Putting Out the American Theatre Dumpster Fire Through White Abolition

Essay

Putting Out the American Theatre Dumpster Fire Through White Abolition

by Ann James

9 March 2021

One Day We’ll Realize Our Shoulders Aren’t Raised to Our Ears

Essay

One Day We’ll Realize Our Shoulders Aren’t Raised to Our Ears

Mad-Libs for a Culture Shift

by Nia Farrell

17 February 2021

purple border around black text economic transperency in commercial theater.

Economic Transparency in the Commercial Theatre

Producer Hub

Video

Economic Transparency in the Commercial Theatre

Let’s talk about how we talk about money

Thursday 15 April 2021

United States

Producer Hub presented the conversation Economic Transparency in the Commercial Theatre with their series Producing Ethically in 2021 livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 15 April 2021 at 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Chasing the Wolf by Nathan Singer

LA Writers Center (LAWC)

Video

Chasing the Wolf by Nathan Singer

with LA Writers Center's "Breathe" online play reading series

Saturday 27 March 2021

United States

LA Writers Center presented a reading of Chasing the Wolf by Nathan Singer as a part of their "Breathe" online play reading series livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 27 March 2021 at 11 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 1 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4).

silhouette of two people embracing, with a red and purple starry background.

Confessions of a Black Intimacy Director with Dr. Ayshia

Ayshia

Stephenson

Video

Confessions of a Black Intimacy Director with Dr. Ayshia

A talk on Black sex, Black bodies, and Black love led by Dr. Ayshia Stephenson

Monday 15 March 2021

United States

Dr. Ayshia Mackie-Stephenson presented Confessions of a Black Intimacy Director with Dr. Ayshia livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 15 March 2021 at 3 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 5 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 6 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Putting Out the American Theatre Dumpster Fire Through White Abolition

Ann

James

Essay

Putting Out the American Theatre Dumpster Fire Through White Abolition

9 March 2021

Ann James discusses the problem with white institutions relying on BIPOC staff to “fix” their issues, shares a radical way for white-led organizations to find healing, and offers a starter list of actions for the “newly minted” abolitionist.

Villains by Marquis Ewing

LA Writers Center (LAWC)

Video

Villains by Marquis Ewing

with LA Writers Center's "Breathe" online play reading series

Saturday 27 February 2021

United States

LA Writers Center presented a reading of Villains by Marquis Ewing as a part of their "Breathe" online play reading series livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 27 February 2021 at 11 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC-8) / 1 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC-6) / 2 p.m. EST (New York, UTC-5).

One Love: A Racial Justice Theatre Workshop with Dr. Ayshia

Ayshia

Stephenson

Video

One Love: A Racial Justice Theatre Workshop with Dr. Ayshia

One Love pedagogy, a racial justice method for teaching and learning theatre

Monday 22 February 2021

United States

Dr. Ayshia Mackie-Stephenson presented One Love: A Racial Justice Theatre Workshop with Dr. Ayshia livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 22 February 2021 at 3 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 5 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 6 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

One Day We’ll Realize Our Shoulders Aren’t Raised to Our Ears

Nia

Farrell

Essay

One Day We’ll Realize Our Shoulders Aren’t Raised to Our Ears

Mad-Libs for a Culture Shift

17 February 2021

Nia Farrell shares her vision of the future—one that exists now, on this very Earth, and that begins with the declaration: “I am adamant that Blk people exist in the future.”

Beto O'Byrne and Radical Evolution

Podcast

Beto O'Byrne and Radical Evolution

Building Our Own Tables Episode #7

10 February 2021

For the last episode of this season's Building Our Own Tables, podcast host Yura Sapi talks with Beto O'Byrne of Radical Evolution, a multiethnic producing collective.

A Summer on Fire, a Harvest Moon

Caroline

Sprague

Essay

A Summer on Fire, a Harvest Moon

8 February 2021

Caroline Sprague reflects on Shey Rivera Ríos’s recent piece, Fire Flowers and a Time Machine, transformative justice, the nonprofit industrial complex, and more.

Two people with speech bubbles, one saying "Can we talk about elitism in American theater" and the other responding "Um, yes please."

Get Off Your High Horse

Ambiance Theatre Company

Video

Get Off Your High Horse

Why Elitism doesn't work for BIPOC Theatremakers

Monday 11 January 2020

United States

Ambiance Theatre Company presented the conversation Get Off Your High Horse livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 11 January 2021 at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Anti-Racism and the Institution

Donny

Repsher

Essay

Anti-Racism and the Institution

5 November 2020

Donny Repsher argues that racial justice needs a new inclusion paradigm and offers a proposal for predominantly white arts institutions and their white leadership to reflect on this historic opportunity to finally pursue real and lasting change.

Collage of panelists' photos, with text displaying title of event and description.

Native Theatre: Where Are We Now?

Safe Harbors NYC

Video

Native Theatre: Where Are We Now?

Examining diversity and equal equity in sovereign decolonized Indigenous spaces against White Supremacy

Monday 2 November 2020

United States

Safe Harbors NYC presented the conversation Native Theatre: Where Are We Now? livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 2 November 2020 at 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Hold, Please

Essay

Hold, Please

Addressing Urgency and Other White Supremacist Standards in Stage Management

15 October 2020

Seven stage managers in the United States—Miguel Flores, R. Christopher Maxwell, John Meredith, Alexander Murphy, Quinn O’Connor, Phyllis Y Smith, and Chris Waters—explore a few places white supremacist culture play out in their work—focusing on urgency, quantity over quality, perfectionism, objectivity, and power-hoarding.

Collage of photos of people including James Baldin, Matthew Shepard, event title and subtitle.

A reading of Strange Fruit, Part II by Jon Bastian

LA Writers Center (LAWC)

Video

A reading of Strange Fruit, Part II by Jon Bastian

with LA Writers Center's "Breathe" online play reading series

Saturday 26 September 2020

United States

LA Writers Center presented a reading of Strange Fruit: Part II by Jon Bastian as a part of their "Breathe" online play reading series livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 26 September 2020 at 11 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 1 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4).

Year of the Stage Manager

Amanda

Spooner

Essay

Year of the Stage Manager

22 September 2020

Amanda Spooner talks about launching Year of the Stage Manager 2020, a grassroots endeavor meant to make visible those who continually operate in the background, and how the movement shifted after the pandemic hit and with the murder of George Floyd.

Erasing the Middle East

Ali-Reza

Mirsajadi

Essay

Erasing the Middle East

White Gatekeeping and the Painful Path of Progress

17 September 2020

Ali-Reza Mirsajadi talks about struggles for Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) artists in the American theatre community and details some of the changes that are happening for inclusivity and equity.

graphic hands holding letters B U I L D with title text

Build from Here: The Future of Ensemble Theater with FoolsFURY Theater Company

Network of Ensemble Theaters

Theatre Bay Area

LMDA

Calling Up Justice

Video

Build from Here: The Future of Ensemble Theater with FoolsFURY Theater Company

Conversations and workshops about labor ethics and project finance reform, design and technology, education, accessibility, and equity and diversity from story selection and development to casting.

Saturday 12 September and Sunday 13 September 2020

United States

FoolsFURY Theater Company presented its national convening of ensemble theater makers BUILD from Here: The Future of Ensemble Theater livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 12 September and Sunday 13 September 2020.

Poster with headshots of speakers that says Black Live Matter.

To the Arts and beyond: What Does It Mean to Support Black Lives Matter? (ASL interpreted)

Arts Connect International

CELC

Video

To the Arts and beyond: What Does It Mean to Support Black Lives Matter? (ASL interpreted)

A Cultural Equity Learning Community panel featuring: Sadada Jackson, Martin Henson, Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, and Michael Bobbit, with music by Precious Perez

Thursday 10 September 2020

United States

The Cultural Equity Learning Community (CELC), an initiative of Arts Connect International, presented To the arts & beyond: What does it mean to support Black Lives Matter? which livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 10 September 2020 at 3 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 6 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4).

How We Grew a Student-Centered Anti-Racist Movement at Our Institution of Learning

Essay

How We Grew a Student-Centered Anti-Racist Movement at Our Institution of Learning

10 September 2020

Tatiana Gil, Micah Rosegrant, Viviana Vargas, and Ciera-Sadé Wade—members of the Boston University School of Theatre Anti-Racist Student Initiative (BU SARSI)—speak to how, after a public outpouring of testimonials from former and current students of BU’s School of Theatre—detailing racism, sexism, ableism, and more—they rallied together to innovate ways of addressing the white supremacy within the school.

a laptop open to a presentation and written notes/sketches in front of it

Revolutionary Costume Pedagogy

Michelle

Souza

Essay

Revolutionary Costume Pedagogy

2 September 2020

Michelle Souza looks at how costume designers and educators can dismantle the status quo of Western-focused, chronological teaching of historical garments and move toward a pedagogy that acknowledges and honors diversity, intersectionality, and globalism.

madeline sayet holding a paper shakespeare mask

Interrogating the Shakespeare System

Madeline

Sayet

Essay

Interrogating the Shakespeare System

31 August 2020

Madeline Sayet argues that promoting Shakespeare as the best writer of all time is a dangerous and white supremacist viewpoint, and she believes it’s time to interrogate the Bard’s placecent as the pinnacle of theatrical achievement.

black and white poster of historical figures' faces

A reading of Strange Fruit, Part 1 by Jon Bastian

LA Writers Center (LAWC)

Video

A reading of Strange Fruit, Part 1 by Jon Bastian

with LA Writers Center's "Breathe" online play reading series

Saturday 29 August 2020

United States

LA Writers Center presented a reading of Strange Fruit by Jon Bastian as a part of their "Breathe" online play reading series livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv beginning Saturday 29 August 2020 at 11 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 1 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4).

Dismantling Anti-Black Language

Essay

Dismantling Anti-Black Language

27 August 2020

Holly Derr interviews Lavina Jadhwani about the document she created called Dismantling Anti-Black Linguistic Racism in Theatre, which offers several examples of potentially anti-Black language, such as Ethiopian, master, and minstrel; their use in Shakespeare; why they might be problematic; and possible substitutions.

Exploring an Anti-Policing Theatre

Chelsea

Whitaker

Essay

Exploring an Anti-Policing Theatre

6 August 2020

While global protests have amplified calls for defunding the police, Chelsea Whitaker shares thoughts on how theatre needs to end its own policing of Blackness as well.

Casting a Wider Net

David

Valdes

Essay

Casting a Wider Net

White Institutions Must Seize the Moment

5 August 2020

David Valdes shares the main excuses theatres give when not programming shows created by and with BIPOC artists, how moving to online theatre offers new opportunities, and what the benefits are of making change.