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

Scattered, but Not Apart: A Two-Sided Story

Essay

Scattered, but Not Apart: A Two-Sided Story

by Carl(os) Roa, Rula(s) A. Muñoz

26 October 2023

Fourth Annual Convening of the Middle Eastern North African Theater Makers Alliance (MENATMA)

Video

Fourth Annual Convening of the Middle Eastern North African Theater Makers Alliance (MENATMA)

Conversations About the Present and Future of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Theatre

Saturday 28 October and Sunday 29 October 2023

San Francisco, CA

How Do We Tend to Collaboration?

Essay

How Do We Tend to Collaboration?

by Mateo Hernandez

28 September 2023

a group marching outside with a banner that reads "NEVER AGAIN IS NOW"

Inventing Worlds

Blair

Nodelman

Essay

Inventing Worlds

What Theatremakers Bring to Organizing

1 February 2021

Blair Nodelman discusses why theatremakers are well suited to deeply understanding the political machine and work toward dismantling the status quo, creating a more equitable and community-based iteration of governing.

School of Resistance episode twelve poster.

School of Resistance—Episode Twelve: Politics of Interdependence

NTGent

Video

School of Resistance—Episode Twelve: Politics of Interdependence

What Would a Truly Caring World Look Like? With Edna Bonhomme and Anne Jung

Thursday 14 January 2021

Brussels, Belgium

What would a truly caring world look like? NTGent presents School of Resistance, Episode Twelve: Politics of Interdependence livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 14 January 2021 at 9 a.m. PST (Los Angeles, UTC -8) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 17:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 18:00 CET (Brussels, UTC+1) / 20:00 TRT (Istanbul, UTC +3).

Write the Software and Let the World Have It

Essay

Write the Software and Let the World Have It

Forty Years of Internet Performance

14 January 2021

In this article for the Performing the Internet series, Miller Puckette and Onyx Ashanti get together for a conversation about the changing landscape of multimedia technology in the arts, how technologically mediated performance practices have taken on new relevance in the post-COVID era, and more.

Cuban woman with headphones talking in a video conference.

How to Produce a Livestream Event, Part 2

Vijay

Mathew

Essay

How to Produce a Livestream Event, Part 2

A Beginner’s Guide to Using the Commons-based OBS Studio Live Broadcast Software

14 October 2020

HowlRound’s cultural strategist, Vijay Mathew, offers a part two to his guide on how to produce a livestream, this time focusing on the commons-based OBS Studio.

Modeling Solidarity: Theater As Political Action

CAATA

Latinx theatre Commons

National Black Theatre

Perseverance

Theatre

Honolulu Theatre for Youth

Moses Goods

Video

Modeling Solidarity: Theater As Political Action

Part of Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists’ ConFest Virtual Series

Monday 14 September 2020

United States

Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists presented a panel discussion Modeling Solidarity: Theater As Political Action livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 14 September 2020 at 1 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC-), 3 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC-), 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).

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.

Crowdsourcing Theatre Practice in a Time of COVID

Essay

Crowdsourcing Theatre Practice in a Time of COVID

20 August 2020

Barbara Fuchs and Elena Araoz share information about their new projects that attempt to make sense of the transformations to the theatre field and put a call out for artists to help chart these transformations.

(Canceled) Reshape Intensive Zagreb

RESHAPE

Video

(Canceled) Reshape Intensive Zagreb

A meeting of art practitioners actively rethinking and reshaping organisational models for the arts sector in the EuroMed region

Monday 9 March - Wednesday 11 March 2020

Zagreb, Croatia

Event Canceled: RESHAPE presents the Intensive Zagreb meeting livestreaming from Zagreb, Croatia on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Monday 9 March to Wednesday 11 March 2020.

Meanwhile: Becoming Porous

Essay

Meanwhile: Becoming Porous

Mientras Tanto: Hacia La Porosidad

21 November 2019

Robert Duffley, Una Chaudhuri, Georgina Escobar, Eli Nixon, Adilson Siqueira, and Brontë Velez reflect on the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics convening that took place in Mexico City in June 2019.

Center for Cultural Innovation's inaugural AmbitioUS convening

Center for Cultural Innovation

Video

Center for Cultural Innovation's inaugural AmbitioUS convening

Encouraging alternative economies and a fresh social contract for artists and cultural anchors

Wednesday 23 October 2019

Oakland, California

Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) presented the inaugural AmbitioUS convening encouraging the development of burgeoning alternative economies and a fresh social contract in ways that artists and cultural anchors can achieve financial freedom. Livestreamed from Oakland, California on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 23 October 2019 at 8:30 a.m. PDT (Oakland, UTC -7) / 10:30 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 11:30 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 15:30 UTC +0 / 4:30 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 17:30 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2).

Trade Show Business

Charles

M Pepiton

Essay

Trade Show Business

Rethinking the Commoditized Theatre and the Public Space

22 October 2019

Charles M Pepiton discusses professional theatre’s commercial roots, how mission statements of non-profits today focus on social engagement, community-based development, and more.

A group of theatre artists sitting around a conference table with a projector screen in the background.

The Promise of the Commons

Essay

The Promise of the Commons

10 October 2019

In honor of World Commons Week 2019, a working group of eleven US-based arts and cultural makers share their vision on how adopting a commons-based approach can help transform the arts into a more equitable and just field.

orange swirl under black book title free fair and alive

Power of the Commons with David Bollier

HowlRound Theatre Commons

Emerson College

Engagement Lab @ Emerson College

Center for Economic Democracy

David

Bollier

Video

Power of the Commons with David Bollier

at Emerson College, Boston, Massachusetts

Monday 30 September 2019

Boston, Massachusetts

HowlRound Theatre Commons and Emerson College's Engagement Lab presented The Power of the Commons with author David Bollier livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Monday 30 September at 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-5) / 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4).

a person sitting in a bathrobe eating breakfast cereal

Radical Disruptions

Selina

Thompson

Essay

Radical Disruptions

How Intergenerational Exchange Builds Community

22 September 2019

two doors and a wall with post-it notes and large paper notes

Drawing a Line

Essay

Drawing a Line

Addressing Sexual Harassment in our Theatre Communities

17 July 2019

Dawn M. Simmons, John Meredith, and Jen Lewis, from New England’s StageSource, discuss where progress needs to happen to address harassment in the theatre industry.

Happy New Year from HowlRound

Jamie

Gahlon

Essay

Happy New Year from HowlRound

Reflections on 2018

31 December 2018

HowlRound Director Jamie Gahlon reflects on 2018 and looks forward to 2019.

What If

Essay

What If

The JUBILEE’s Vision of Unity and Action

24 October 2018

Rachel Grossman and Kirk Lynn announce the JUBILEE, a year-long nationwide festival in 2020/20201 that asks companies to commit to producing a season of work by artists who have been traditionally excluded from the American theatre.

A group of people sit in chairs in a circle

The Birth of a Theatre Commons

Essay

The Birth of a Theatre Commons

HowlRound from 2009-2017

3 October 2018

Alexis Frasz and Holly Sidford of Helicon Collaborative share the case study they wrote on HowlRound. Alexis and Holly believe HowlRound’s story is particularly resonant for this moment in time, and has potential to influence thinking and shift practice in the theatre sector and beyond. This essay shares a few thoughts on why they think HowlRound’s story matters in today’s political and economic context.

The Birth of a Climate Commons for Theatre and Performance

Lanxing

Essay

The Birth of a Climate Commons for Theatre and Performance

18 September 2018

Lani Fu introduces the Climate Commons, an initiative that emerged from the Theatre in the Age of Climate Change convening in June 2018.

Radical Ideas Welcome

Abigail

Vega

Essay

Radical Ideas Welcome

What Should the Latinx Theatre Commons Do Next?

13 September 2018

Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) Producer Abigail Vega reflects on the last six years of programming, and encourages the community to submit ideas for future LTC programming.

How to Host a Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon for Activists

Sierra

Carlson

Essay

How to Host a Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon for Activists

10 September 2018

Dramaturg Sierra Carlson describes her process for hosting a Women in Theatre Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon at her university, and encourages others engage in digital dramaturgical activism.

Denver

Leslie C.

Lewis

Essay

Denver

Where Playwrights Love Playwrights (and Actors, Directors, and Producers)

23 August 2018

Leslie C. Lewis looks at how playwrights are working together and building community with Rough Draught Playwrights in Denver, Colorado.

Celebration, Abundance, and ConeXion

Lisa

Portes

Essay

Celebration, Abundance, and ConeXion

Welcome to the Carnaval of New Latinx Work

19 July 2018

Lisa Portes' remarks from the opening of the Latinx Theatre Commons Carnaval of New Latinx Work in Chicago, Illinois.

Working With(In) Communities/ Trabajando Con y Para la Comunidad

Essay

Working With(In) Communities/ Trabajando Con y Para la Comunidad

Modeling Decolonized Practices/Las Practicas Hacia La Descolonización

31 May 2018

Director Megan Sandberg-Zakian talks with representatives of organizations which are intentionally working towards decolonized practices.

Shifting the Leadership Paradigm

Essay

Shifting the Leadership Paradigm

the Berkshire Leadership Summit and Beyond

9 April 2018

Sara Brookner interviews the steering committee of the Berkshire Leadership Summit, which brought together a hundred present and future US and Canadian women leaders to discuss equity and advancement in the theatre field.