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Commons-Based Approaches

HowlRound defines commons-based approaches as practices that promote relationality, cooperation, horizontal and decentralized decision-making and networks, bottom-up activity, and peer-to-peer sharing of infrastructure, material goods, knowledge, and ideas. Content in this section directly addresses practices of commoning from around the field. Dive in with essays on the promise of the commons, the birth of a climate commons, and how a commons becomes a selection committee.

The Latest

Essay
Facilitative Directing Centers the Art
by Kimberly Senior
1 June 2026
Essay
Artists Lead the Way at the 2026 Under the Radar Symposium
by Ashley Malafronte
4 May 2026
Video
Resistance in Action: Building Solidarity
CAATA Conversations
Monday 3 August 2026
United States
Four images of Melanie Joseph.
Essay
13 September 2012

Melanie Joseph, the Artistic Director of the Foundry Theater, examines what it means to be an artist and an active citizen.

Collage of theatre artists gathering and speaking at the From Scarcity to Abundance convening.
Essay

Updating the US Narrative

9 August 2012

Anne Garcia-Romero on the genesis of the Latinx Theatre Commons.

Howlround's New Play Map.
Essay
11 July 2012

We've officially launched version 3 of The New Play Map!

Howlround's New Play Map.
Essay

Update # 4

9 July 2012

The last update before the official launch of New Play Map Version 3

Essay
28 June 2012

Ezra Ezzard talks about the rich history and bright future of Harlem, and the necessity of keeping it an affordable place to make art and develop artistic voices.

P Carl giving a speech at a podium.
Essay
18 June 2012

P. Carl's keynote from the 2012 CityWrights: Weekend for Playwrights enbolden artists to focus on making good art, rather than being overwhelmed by transactions.

Essay

Update # 3

25 April 2012

Here is a brief quip from the design team in addition to the final list of goals for the new play map.

Portrait of P Carl.
Essay
18 April 2012

P. Carl and David Dower outline thier plan for what HowlRound will look and function like moving forward.

Several people in colorful outfits dance on stage.
Essay
18 April 2012

Melia Bensussen examines how the arrival of The Commons will intersect with the theater professionals that populate Emerson College's faculty.

Essay
17 April 2012

Student Nick Medvescek writes about the synergy of HowlRound and Emerson College's student-led theatre community.

Howlround's logo.
Essay

A Video Explanation of The Commons by Jamie Gahlon & Vijay Mathew

16 April 2012

A video introducing our big move!

Essay

Why Emerson? Why Now?

16 April 2012

Rob Orchard reflects on his professional career at the Yale Repertory Theatre and the American Repertory Theatre, leading to his new position and excitment for Emerson's Office of the Arts.

Howlround's new play map.
Essay

Update # 2

16 April 2012

The next big jump for the new play map is the ability to control the look of a new play’s journey.

 

A row of buildings in a city.
Essay
15 April 2012

President Lee Pelton welcomes The Commons to Emerson College!

A graphic for the New Play Institute's annual report.
Essay
14 April 2012

As the New Play Institute transitions to Emerson College as the new Center for the Theater Commons, we celebrate the accomplishments of the previous year with our annual report.

Howlround's New Play Map.
Essay

Update # 1

11 April 2012

Next iteration of the New Play Map is coming along! We are updating it with the current mapping system to make the process quick and easy to use.

Howlround's New Play Map.
Essay

A Call to Co-Develop a Theater Commons

15 March 2012

Welcome to the New Play Map, an innovative, crowd-sourced way to track all the new work being made across the nation. But for our newest project to succeed, we need your help.

Essay

Rethinking Intellectual Property

15 March 2012

Isaac Butler argues for a re-thinking of the way we as theater artists approach and apply copyright and intellectual property.

 

Video
Saturday 10 March 2012 

As part of the 36th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays, the Actors Theatre of Louisville presented the first of four panel discussions livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv  on Saturday 10 March 2012 at 11 a.m. EST / 10 a.m. CST.

Essay

A Paradigm Shift in Connecting Plays and Producers

23 February 2012
Logo for Howlround.
Video
15 February 2013
Washington, D.C., United States

#NEW PLAY TV is innovating how TV develops community. Changing the power from capital producers to pedestrians will decentralize content and reinvigorate local culture.

A watercolor art piece in which a blue figure and an orange figure interact with each other.
Essay
9 February 2012

Jaan Whitehead addresses the revolutionary attitude necessary for artists to reclaim the theatre from the institutions that produce it.

Essay

Transformation and Innovation?

27 January 2012

Vijay Mathew provides the latest update from the HowlRound office, in which the staff and some special guests start defining "knowledge commons" and "community sourcing" through videos.

Video

"Water Park"

25 January 2012
Washington, D.C., United States

How is the commons like a water park? The HowlRound team explains.

Portrait of P. Carl.
Essay
6 January 2012

P. Carl asks if the virtual connectedness of the twenty first century theater community can provide the place for artists to move beyond the brick and mortar settings of the current regional theater movement, and into greater creative freedom.

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