Howlround Theater Commons Home Page

Anti-Racist Theatre

As political activist and author Angela Davis said, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” Content in this section is about moving our field away from harmful white supremacist power structures and ways of working, and into a just and equitable future. Start with essays on anti-racist stage management practices, combatting white supremacy culture in training programs and intimacy direction, and supporting parent-artists through an anti-racist lens.

The Latest

Our Theater Ecology
Video
Our Theater Ecology
TCG's 2021 National Conference Online
Thursday 13 May to Friday 21 May 2021
United States
Responding to Anti-Asian Race-Based Harassment
Video
Responding to Anti-Asian Race-Based Harassment
Healing Over Hate Episode Two: Bystander intervention and safety awareness trainings to combat anti-AAPI harassment and xenophobia
Monday 10 May 2021
United States
Unrehearsed Futures: Serious Play
Video
Unrehearsed Futures: Serious Play
Towards Decolonizing Physical Theatre Pedagogies
Thursday 13 May 2021
South Africa
event poster for the our theatre ecology.
Our Theater Ecology
orange circle with T C G text
TCG
Video

Our Theater Ecology

TCG's 2021 National Conference Online

Thursday 13 May to Friday 21 May 2021
United States

Theatre Communications Group presented their 2021 National Conference: Our Theatre Ecology livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Thursday 13 May to Friday 21 May 2021.

event poster with text for episode 6 of unrehearsed futures.
Unrehearsed Futures: Serious Play
Drama School Mumbai logo
Drama School Mumbai
Embodied Poetics logo
Embodied Poetics
Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies, Cape Town, logo
CTDPS, Cape Town
Video

Unrehearsed Futures: Serious Play

Towards Decolonizing Physical Theatre Pedagogies

Thursday 13 May 2021
South Africa

Presenting Unrehearsed Futures: Serious Play livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 13 May 2021 at 4 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 9 a.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 10 a.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2) / 1:30 p.m. IST (Mumbai, UTC +5:30) / 6 p.m. AEST (Hobart, UTC +10).

L to R: headshots of Adriana Li, Program Coordinator & Instructor, Impact Boston and Dax Valdes, Senior Trainer, Hollaback!.
Responding to Anti-Asian Race-Based Harassment
CAATA
Video

Responding to Anti-Asian Race-Based Harassment

Healing Over Hate Episode Two: Bystander intervention and safety awareness trainings to combat anti-AAPI harassment and xenophobia

Monday 10 May 2021
United States

Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) presented the second episode of its ongoing monthly ConFest Virtual Series, Healing Over Hate on Monday 10 May at 1 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10), 3 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC -8), 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7), 5 p.m. MDT (Denver, UTC -6), 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5), 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

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
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).

three headshots
Putting Out the American Theatre Dumpster Fire Through White Abolition
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).

text one love on black background
One Love: A Racial Justice Theatre Workshop with Dr. Ayshia
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).

a colorful illustration
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

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.”

ep. 7 Beto O'Byrne Radical Evolution
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.

an actor kneeling onstage
A Summer on Fire, a Harvest Moon
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).

graphic of a seated audience and text reading "anti-racism and the institution"
Anti-Racism and the Institution
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).

two people onstage
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).

a person standing backstage
Year of the Stage Manager
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.

two actors onstage
Erasing the Middle East
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 Logo
Network of Ensemble Theaters
Theatre Bay Area
LMDA
cursive text CALLING UP
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)
Round multicolored logo
Arts Connect International
orange square with white CELC text
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
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
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).