In this section, advocates and artists discuss the dangers faced by creative people in different situations around the world, from sexual harassment in rehearsal rooms to retaliation from governments in response to political art, and what we can do to protect them. Consider starting with Jessica Litwak’s 2018 series Artist Rights and Safety.
The Latest
Essay
For Palestinian Theatremakers, the Future Is a Dangerous Question
by Bayan Shbib
31 March 2026
Essay
Guarding the Future of International Artistic Exchange at the 2025 IPC Convening
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City presented a performance of 55 Shades of Gay: Balkan Spring of Sexual Revolutionby Qendra Multimedia (Kosovo) livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Sunday 10 March 2019 at 12 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 3 p.m. EDT (New York) / 19:00 UTC +0 (London) / 20:00 UTC +1 (Berlin).
A Call to the International Theatre Community to Join the Struggle for Cultural Justice
12 February 2019
With the bombing of Gaza’s last-remaining arts space—the Al Mishal Cultural Centre—in August 2018, Jessica Litwak and a group of international theatremakers are calling for justice.
The Center for International Theatre Development presented The Politician as an Artist—a lecture and conversation featuring Budapest-based Theatre Critic Noémi Herczog with Philip Arnoult and Ramona Ostrowski livestreaming from Emerson College in Boston on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 1 November 2018 at 9 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York) / 16:00 UTC +0 (London) / 17:00 UTC +1 (Budapest).
Julie Trébault and Laura Kauer García discuss the work that Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) has been doing to connect, defend, and protect artists worldwide.
Matthew Covey, founding director of Tamizdat, discusses why American theatre artists should be more knowledgable about US visas and policies, and describes how Tamizdat is working to support international artists performing in the US.
Theatre activist Hjalmar Jorge Joffre-Eichhorn reflects on the founding of the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization, a political theatre group that has been working together for over ten years to create social change.
Jessica Litwak, artistic director of the H.E.A.T Collective, explores the growing field of artist rights and safety, and talks about her dedication to “art of service,” the work that serves communities by facilitating creative personal and social change.
US director and health and wellness educator Molly Schenck describes five useful rehearsal techniques for ensembles to adapt when creating work around difficult topics.
Trafó House of Contemporary Arts in Budapest, Hungary presented Theatre and Power— a panel discussion at dunaPart – Platform of Hungarian Performing Arts livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 30 November 2017 at 10:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1) / 4:00 a.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 9:00 a.m. GMT (London, UTC +0) / 11:00 EET (Bucharest, UTC +2) / 17:00 SGT (Singapore, UTC +8) / 8:00 p.m. AEDT (Sydney, UTC +11). In Twitter, follow @HowlRound for updates, and use #howlround.
La MaMa in New York City presented Belarus Free Theatre's performance of Burning Doors livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Sunday 22 October at 4 p.m. EDT (New York) / 3 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 1 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 20:00 UTC / 9 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 22:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2) / 23:00 MSK/EEST (Minsk, Moscow, Beirut, UTC +3). On Twitter, follow @HowlRound, @BFreeTheatre, and use #BurningDoors to share your thoughts.
The Dialog-Wrocław International Theatre Festival in Poland presented the debate What is forbidden? About political theatre and politicisation of theatre in Poland livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Friday 20 October at 16:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2) / 17:00 EEST (Beirut, UTC +3) / 3 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 14:00 UTC +0 / 10 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4). In Twitter, follow @howlround for updates and use #howlround.
A debate about cultural institutions in tae world where the freedom of creation is endangered.
Thursday 19 October 2017
Poland
The Dialog-Wrocław International Theatre Festival in Poland presented the debate Why do we need theatre? livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 19 October at 16:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2) / 17:00 EEST (Beirut, UTC +3) / 3 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 14:00 UTC +0 / 10 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4). In Twitter, follow @howlround for updates and use #howlround.
The 22nd edition of Konfrontacje Festival in Lublin, Poland presented the discussion Theatre and Democracy: Institutional Practices in Polish Theatre with the Polish Theatre Journal livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Friday 13 October at 17:00 CEST (Lublin/Berlin) / 18:00 EEST (Bucharest) / 4 p.m. BST (London) / 15:00 UTC / 11 a.m. EDT (New York) / 8 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles). Follow @HowlRoundTV and @konfrontacje on Twitter for updates.
SpiderWebShow Performance and The Theatre Centre presented Civil Debates # 5: Freedom of Speech Online livestreamed from Toronto, Canada on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Monday 21 November at 7:30 p.m. EST (Montreal) / 6:30 p.m. CST (Winnipeg) / 5:30 p.m. MST (Edmonton) / 4:30 p.m. PST (Vancouver) / Tuesday, November 22 at 00:30 GMT/UTC (London) / Tuesday, November 22 at 11:30 a.m. AEDT (Sydney). In Twitter, share your thoughts with #CivilDebates and follow @SpiderWebShow, @TheatreCentre, and @HowlRoundTV for updates about the livestream.
IETM—international network for contemporary performing arts—presented a conversation Conflicts, Ethics, and Aesthetics from Beirut, Lebanon on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Friday 7 October at 14:15-15:45 EEST (Beirut, UTC+3) / 13:15-14:45 CEST (Brussels, UTC+2) / 12:15 p.m.-1:45 p.m. BST (London, UTC+1) / 11:15-12:45 UTC (GMT) / 7:15 a.m.-8:45 a.m. EDT (New York). Share your thoughts and join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtags#ArtsFreedom and #IETMBeirut.
IETM—international network for contemporary performing arts—presented a conversation Perspectives on Freedom of Expression in the Euro-Mediterranean Today from Beirut, Lebanon on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 6 October at 10:00-12:00 EEST (Beirut, UTC+3) / 09:00-11:00 CEST (Brussels, UTC+2) / 8 a.m.-10 a.m. BST (London, UTC+1) / 07:00-09:00 UTC (GMT) / 3 a.m.-5 a.m. EDT (New York). Share your thoughts and join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtags #ArtsFreedom and #IETMBeirut.
The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented the lecture The Future of Performance in the Era of Global Surveillance, livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 20 September 2016 at 9 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York). Share your thoughts on Twitter and Instagram with #howlround.
A prominent theatre figure in Lebanon and the Arab region, Hanane Hajj Ali reflects in this piece on the personal and professional encounters that have made her the free woman she is today.
The Actors Fund presented a talk by Jim Brown about how the Affordable Health Care Act will affect the arts commmunity livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 9 February 2013 at 9 a.m. PST (San Francisco) / 11 a.m. CST (Chicago) / 12 p.m. EST (Atlanta) on Saturday, February 9.
