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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

We Can’t Build an Equitable Theatre While Ignoring COVID
Essay
We Can’t Build an Equitable Theatre While Ignoring COVID
by Taylor Leigh Lamb
21 March 2024
How LUNG Is Breathing Radical Joy into Theatre in the United Kingdom
Essay
How LUNG Is Breathing Radical Joy into Theatre in the United Kingdom
by verity healey, Matt Woodhead, Helen Monks
5 March 2024
What Makes St. Louis a Flourishing Ecosystem for New Plays and Cooperative Production Models
Essay
What Makes St. Louis a Flourishing Ecosystem for New Plays and Cooperative Production Models
by Jacob Juntunen
13 February 2024
A collage of several pictures of people's faces placed side by side.
Remembering Ways of Knowing
Essay

Remembering Ways of Knowing

A Conversation between JD Stokely and Javiera Benavente

16 March 2022

JD Stokely and Javiera Benavente discuss the ways the navigate they complexities of commoning while embracing listening, unlearning, and care in their creative practices and educational paths.

event poster for talleres for dreaming episode 2.
An invitation to dance, cuz we free
Video

An invitation to dance, cuz we free

An Artist Talk by Marguerite Angelica Monique

Tuesday 15 March 2022
United States

Cara Mía Theatre’s Mellon Playwright in Residence Virginia Grise presented Talleres for Dreaming: Episode 2 livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Tuesday 15 March 2022 at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

A parade of men women and children carrying a flag.
Side-yard: On the Commons, the Neighborhood, Grief, and Not Making Theatre While Still Making Theatre
Essay

Side-yard: On the Commons, the Neighborhood, Grief, and Not Making Theatre While Still Making Theatre

15 March 2022

Play House is a collectively stewarded performance space near the border of Detroit and Hamtramck that has become a place of convening and creation for the neighborhood. Richard Newman, a co-manager of the space and co-director of The Hinterlands ensemble, traces connections between creative practice, community, grief, and an outdoor ramp at Play House.

A man carrying a torch stands on top of a small stone tower.
Arts, Culture, and Commoning: A New/Old Path to Collective Transformation
Essay

Arts, Culture, and Commoning: A New/Old Path to Collective Transformation

14 March 2022

In their introduction to the Arts, Culture, and Commoning series, curators Jamie Gahlon and Matthew Glassman apply the concept of the commons to theatremaking as a practice and illuminate the potent intersection of these ideas.

event poster for talleres for dreaming episode 1.
Theatrical Jazz as the Practice of Liberation
Video

Theatrical Jazz as the Practice of Liberation

An Artist Talk by Omi Osun Joni L. Jones

Tuesday 8 March 2022
United States

Cara Mía Theatre’s Mellon Playwright in Residence Virginia Grise presents Talleres for Dreaming: Episode 1 livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Tuesday 8 March 2022 at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Several performers with large puppets standing in a field.
Ground Lessons: Performing with the Potato People at Bread and Puppet
Essay

Ground Lessons: Performing with the Potato People at Bread and Puppet

26 January 2022

Denise Rogers Valenzuela shares the way that learning to perform improvised crowd scenes with large, flat puppets—called naked population puppets or potato people—encourages an embodied practice that resists individualism.

Two people wearing costumes and holding signs that say "Bush" and "World".
Creating Puppet Solidarities
Essay

Creating Puppet Solidarities

24 January 2022

Sarah Plummer kicks off the puppet series by introducing the series contributors and exploring the way their work highlights puppetry’s capacity to form solidarities among humans and nonhumans.

stick figure drawing representing future artists in solidarity.
ArtsLink Assembly 2021: Future Fellows
Video

ArtsLink Assembly 2021: Future Fellows

An Annual Convening of Transnational Artists, Thinkers, and Activists Working with Culture to Create a Better World

Friday 19 November 2021
New York City

Building on last year’s theme of resilience and community engagement, ArtsLink Assembly 2021 focused on the artists and arts leaders, the Future Fellows, creating new networks and structures locally and transnationally to support independent artists in a post-pandemic world. Livestreamed on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network Friday 19 November 2021.

The Future is Now
The Future Is Now: Conversations with Leyli Gafarova and Elena Ishchenko
Podcast

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Leyli Gafarova and Elena Ishchenko

11 November 2021

In these episodes of The Future Is Now, two CEC Artslink Future Fellows—Azerbaijan-based filmmaker Leyli Gafarova and Russian art curator and researcher Elena Ischenko—discuss their vision for the future of arts practice.

event poster for shift freedom talk.
Conversation: Freedom Talk at House of Memory
Video

Conversation: Freedom Talk at House of Memory

A conversation on the importance of oral storytelling in indigenous societies

Friday 29 October 2021
India

Safe Havens Freedom Talks presented a conversation in collaboration with Gothenburg Book Fair livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 29 October 2021.

Theatre Coalition Building panel poster.
Power in Theatre Coalition Building
Video

Power in Theatre Coalition Building

Featuring Real Alanis, Lyndsay Burch, CJ Ochoco, Leo Grierson, and Jaz Hall. Moderated by Whitney Reed

Wednesday 20 October 2021
United States

Power in Theatre Coalition Building focuses on the strength of theatres, art organizations, individuals and artists alike sharing resources, responsibility, goals, decisions, and leadership to work toward a common goal. In this discussion we listen from partners of In the Margin on strategies of coalition building moving forward in American Theatre. Livestreaming Wednesday 20 October 2021 at 3 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10) / 5 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. MDT (Albuquerque, UTC -6) / 8 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 9 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Study into Action calendar listing of the five episodes.
Art.coop Study-into-Action (ASL and Live Captions)
Video

Art.coop Study-into-Action (ASL and Live Captions)

Artists Need the Solidarity Economy and the Solidarity Economy Needs Artists

Fridays 3 September to 1 October 2021
Global

Art.coop invited you to study-into-action with us on five Fridays this fall. Our aim is to connect cultural innovators across silos who do not know one another well, but are building the cultural economy we want. We need to socialize, study, and dream together before we can take collective action. Artists need the solidarity economy, and the solidarity economy needs artists! Livestreaming on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Fridays from 3 September to 1 October 2021 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 17:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 18:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2).

The guest, Rose Kim, with some hair in her face against a space background to the right of the podcast logo.
There's Nothing General About General Admission
Podcast

There's Nothing General About General Admission

With Rose Kim of Art Rat Theatre School

22 September 2021

Yura Sapi speaks with Rose Kim, founder and producing director of Art Rat Theatre. Art Rat Theatre is a production vehicle dedicated to gardening anticolonial, anti-capitalist theatre for a truly diverse new era audience and catalyzing a greater network of independent institutionally marginalized, young adult creatives.

A headshot of the guest, Eric Lockley, against a galaxy background.
Transforming Organizational Structures
Podcast

Transforming Organizational Structures

With Eric Lockley of The Movement Theatre Company

15 September 2021

Yura Sapi speaks with Eric Lockley, co-founder of the Movement Theatre Company. Lockley is a member of the company’s producing artistic leadership team, who work together to create an artistic social movement by developing and producing new works by artists of color. Their work engages audiences in a rich theatrical dialogue, enlightens communities to the important issues affecting our world, and empowers artists to celebrate the many sides of their unique voice.

A grey-colored person looking off to the left with colorful flowers bursting from their head.
The Realm of the Senses: Theatrical World-Building for Social Activation
Essay

The Realm of the Senses: Theatrical World-Building for Social Activation

26 August 2021

In this entry of Devising Our Future, Aly Perry asks, “How might we position and design theatre as an essential space for healing, pleasure, and connection through an intertwining and interdependent realm of the senses?

Person climbing towards a director's chair
Instead of a Vision: Listening and Dialogue as the Work of a Theatre Director
Essay

Instead of a Vision: Listening and Dialogue as the Work of a Theatre Director

23 August 2021

Charlie Peters asks, “What if the role of a director was conceived primarily as one of listening rather than visioning?”

Unrehearsed Futures
Video

Unrehearsed Futures

Episode #19: Collaborative Theatre-Making and/as Participatory Justice

Thursday 12 August 2021
South Africa

Unrehearsed Futures Episode #19: Collaborative Theatre-Making and/as Participatory Justice livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 12 August 2021.

event poster for unrehearsed futures episode 18.
Unrehearsed Futures
Video

Unrehearsed Futures

Episode #18: We Have Been Here Before

Thursday 5 August 2021
South Africa

Unrehearsed Futures Episode #18: We Have Been Here Before livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 5 August 2021 at 5 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 10 a.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 11 a.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2).

A woman in a white dress with short hair dancing with an ensemble of other women and men behind her.
Open Channels: The Journey Begins/Canales Abiertos: La jornada comienza
Essay

Open Channels: The Journey Begins/Canales Abiertos: La jornada comienza

29 July 2021

Fátima De La Caridad Patterson Patterson, Mathew Schwarzman, and Carolina Caballero share their experience of creating Open Channels, an event where artists from thirteen countries gathered digitally to talk about Caribbean popular theatre.

Fátima De La Caridad Patterson Patterson, Mathew Schwarzman, y Carolina Caballero comparten sus experiencias creando Open Channels (Canales Abiertos), un evento donde artistas de trece países compartieron digitalmente para hablar del Teatro Popular Caribeño.

headshots of artists and panelists from the howlround for india event.
Livestreaming a Marathon: A HowlRound for India
Video

Livestreaming a Marathon: A HowlRound for India

A 24-hour marathon of Covid-19 talks with the global theatre community

Tuesday 20 July to Wednesday 21 July
India

The Martin E. Segal Theater Center presents A HowlRound for India: a 24-hour marathon of Covid-19 talks with the global theatre community livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Tuesday 20 July to Wednesday 21 July at 6 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 9 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 13:00 UTC / 2 p.m. BST (UTC +1) / 6:30 p.m. BST (Bengaluru, UTC +5:30).

A woman holding a syringe and examining it.
Transcending Theatre: My Time with Robbie McCauley
Essay

Transcending Theatre: My Time with Robbie McCauley

20 July 2021

Tara Brooke Watkins reflects on the legacy of Robbie McCauley, who challenged the status quo of theatre systems, from the classroom to the rehearsal room to productions.

event poster for Open Channels—a Caribbean Theatre Workshop from Santiago de Cuba & New Orleans Canales Abiertos—un Taller de Teatro Popular del Caribe desde Santiago de Cuba y Nueva Orleans.
Open Channels / Canales Abiertos 2021
Video

Open Channels / Canales Abiertos 2021

A Caribbean Theatre Workshop from Santiago de Cuba & New Orleans / Canales Abiertos—un Taller de Teatro Popular del Caribe desde Santiago de Cuba y Nueva Orleans

Thursday 8 July 2021
Cuba

The Stone Center for Latin American Studies and The Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute and The New Orleans Center for the Gulf South of Tulane University (New Orleans, LA), and Estudio Teatral Macubá presented Open Channels livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 8 July 2021 at 10 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 9 a.m. CDT (New Orleans, UTC -5) / 7 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7).

event poster for unrehearsed futures episode 13.
Unrehearsed Futures
Video

Unrehearsed Futures

Episode 13: Theatre for their Communities

Thursday 1 July 2021
Bengaluru, Karnataka

Unrehearsed Futures: Theatre for their Communities livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 30 June 2021 at 8 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / Thursday 1 July 2021 at 4 a.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 5 a.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2).

An illustration of a woman in a green dress holding a stick up to a circular light above. She is surrounded by plenty of these lights, each connected by lines.
Commonplaces
Essay

Commonplaces

Notes on a Future That Has Already Happened

28 June 2021

Matthew Glassman shares his commonplace—a collection of quotes, poems, reflections, dreams, doodles, images, and more, and a portal to reach forward to our future selves and for our future selves to reach back to us.

Jacqueline Flores
Introducing Jacqueline Flores, Our New Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!
Essay

Introducing Jacqueline Flores, Our New Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!

9 June 2021

Join us in welcoming Jacqueline, our new Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!