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Community-Engaged Theatre

In this section, you’ll find content about making theatre that is deeply engaged—often throughout the creation and production process—with a specific community. Questions are explored around navigating the relationship between the artist(s) and the community, as well as creating meaningful and authentic experiences. The essay “Not Another Memory Play,” about the creation of “a durational, grassroots engagement with the Black community of the Arkansas Delta called Remember2019,” is a great place to start, as is this conversation from CultureHub about collectives devising new grassroots engagement strategies.

The Latest

Agri-Culture in Climate Change
Essay
Agri-Culture in Climate Change
by Tannis Kowalchuk
23 April 2024
Can’t Do Theatre by Yourself
Essay
Can’t Do Theatre by Yourself
by Christin Eve Cato, Jorge Piña
23 January 2024
On Theatre, Home, and Housing 
Essay
On Theatre, Home, and Housing 
by Jan Cohen-Cruz
16 January 2024
Panel: Curation and the Politics of Listening
Video

Panel: Curation and the Politics of Listening

Tuesday 5 April 2016
Boston, MA, United States

ArtsEmerson in Boston presented the panel discussion Curation and the Politcs of Listening, part of the Naming Ourselves Public Dialogue series, livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Tuesday 5 April at 7 p.m. EDT (New York) / 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 4 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles). In Twitter, use #howlround to participate in the conversation and follow @howlroundtv.

Getting Down with Barrio Stories
Essay

Getting Down with Barrio Stories

Introduction

17 March 2016

In this first installment, Milta Ortiz discusses the backstory of Barrio Stories, while playwrights Virginia Grise, Martín Zimmerman, and Elaine Romero talk about their collaboration for this project.

A Leap of Faith to Seattle
Essay

A Leap of Faith to Seattle

3 March 2016

Armando Huipe describes the organizing principles behind the upcoming Latina/o Theatre Commons convening in Seattle, WA.

Is Your Theatre Only “Diverse and Inclusive” Twice a Year?
Essay

Is Your Theatre Only “Diverse and Inclusive” Twice a Year?

20 February 2016

Malesha Taylor shares her experience working in audience development and emphasizes the need for regional theatres to continue building relationships with diverse audiences. 

Where Thou Art
Essay

Where Thou Art

PortLAND

19 February 2016

In the first installment of her new series, Joan Marie Hurwit writes about spending time in Portland, Oregon, and how art is playing a role in a city in transition.

Goin’ to Kansas City
Essay

Goin’ to Kansas City

Dramaturgy Open Office Hours Branches Out

16 February 2016

Dramaturgs Amanda Boyle and Alyson Germinder share their experience with hosting the Dramaturgy Open Office Hour Project in Kansas City, MO.

Puppets and Politics in South Africa
Essay

Puppets and Politics in South Africa

29 January 2016

Josh Williams discusses the Barrydale Reconciliation Day Puppet Parade and its socio-political impact in contemporary South Africa.

27th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration
Video

27th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration

Monday 18 January 2016
Ashland, OR, United States

Join community members for Ashland, Oregon's 27th annual Martin Luther King Jr., Holiday Celebration featuring music, spoken word, and dance. Keynote speakers: Mildred Ruiz-Sapp and Steven Sapp of UNIVERSES—livestreamed on the global, commons-based HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Monday 18 January at 12 p.m. PST-1:30 p.m. PST (Los Angeles) / 2 p.m. CST-3:30 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 3 p.m. EST-4:30 p.m. EST (New York). Follow the live-tweeting @AshlandMLKDay, and use #SOMLK.

Writing For Club Theatre
Essay

Writing For Club Theatre

3 January 2016

Peter Holm addresses the rise to prominence of club theatre and its suitability to the digital age.

We Are Our Public
Essay

We Are Our Public

Faint Glimmers of What It Means to Pledge Organizational Citizenship

20 November 2015

Wier Harman writes about being part of the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program, and the “Organization as Citizen” project.

Long Arc Relationships
Essay

Long Arc Relationships

Interview with Daniel Beaty and David Dower

6 November 2015

Adewunmi Oke interviews artist Daniel Beaty and Artistic Director David Dower about their longstanding working relationship.

From the Heart of a City: A Panel on Community and Theatre 
Video

From the Heart of a City: A Panel on Community and Theatre 

Thursday 29 October 2015 
Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver Moving Theatre and Playwrights Theatre Centre presented a panel discussion on community and theatre coinciding with the book launch of From the Heart of a City—livestreamed on the global, commons based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 29 October at 7:15 p.m. PDT (Vancouver) / 8:15 p.m. MDT (Calgary) / 9:15 p.m. CDT (Winnipeg) / 10:15 p.m. EDT (Toronto). In Twitter, follow @HowlRoundTV, and use #HotCFest

My Time-Traveling Mosaic Journey on California
Essay

My Time-Traveling Mosaic Journey on California

The Tempest

25 October 2015

Actor Iris Gonzalez describes her experience with Cornerstone Theatre Company, in the latest installment of the series about their California Bridge Tour.

Exiting and Assessing Impact in Community-Based Theatre
Essay

Exiting and Assessing Impact in Community-Based Theatre

27 September 2015

Liane Tomasetti discusses evaluating the impact of her team’s site-specific project and future implications for the community. 

Challenges with Radical Hospitality in Act II of Berkeley Rep’s Production of Notes from the Field, Doing Time in Education
Essay

Challenges with Radical Hospitality in Act II of Berkeley Rep’s Production of Notes from the Field, Doing Time in Education

The California Chapter by Anna Deveare Smith

28 August 2015

SK Kerastas describes an experience grappling with the concept of “radical hospitality” during Anna Deveare Smith’s Notes from the Field, Doing Time in Education: The California Chapter.

The Full Service Theatre—What We’ve Learned at Civic Ensemble
Essay

The Full Service Theatre—What We’ve Learned at Civic Ensemble

20 August 2015

Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. writes about the discoveries made by Civic Ensemble in Ithaca, NY.

Preparing and Performing Site-Specific Immersive Work
Essay

Preparing and Performing Site-Specific Immersive Work

22 July 2015

Liane Tomasetti shares some words of wisdom following the performances of the site-specific, immersive piece Animating the James and Ann Whithall House at Red Bank Battlefield.

Conversation About Community Engagement and Theatremaking in Community
Video

Conversation About Community Engagement and Theatremaking in Community

Working Theater’s Five Boroughs/One City Project

Sunday 10 May 2015
New York City, NY, United States

 

Working Theater in New York City presented a conversation about community engagement and theatremaking in community as part of the Five Boroughs/One City Project livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on howlround.tv on Sunday 10 May at 12 p.m. PDT (Vancouver) / 2 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 3 p.m. EDT (New York) / 19:00 GMT.

From Crisis to Creation in New York City
Essay

From Crisis to Creation in New York City

Time to Buy In

28 April 2015

Brad Burgess reflects on artists working with service organizations, and how important it is for artists to come together to face economic challenges.

Panel Gentrification & Urban Development at The N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art
Video

Panel Gentrification & Urban Development at The N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art

Thursday 16 April 2015
Detroit, MI, United States

The N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art in Detroit presented the panel discussion Gentrification & Urban Development livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 16 April at 6 p.m. EDT (New York) / 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 3 p.m. EDT (San Francisco). In Twitter, follow @HowlRoundTV and use hashtag #howlround.

Community-Specific Theatre
Essay

Community-Specific Theatre

Conversations, Connections, and Considerations

10 April 2015

Talleri McRae shares a conversation hosted by StageOne Family Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky about making theatre specific to a particular community.

Stories, Human Flourishing, and Spaces of Abundance
Essay

Stories, Human Flourishing, and Spaces of Abundance

25 March 2015

Stephani Etheridge Woodson explores why companies like Roadside and Pregones are underutilized resources, what they do for stories, and how they develop communities of abundance.

Constructing a Bridge Culture
Essay

Constructing a Bridge Culture

23 March 2015

Ben Fink explores why the collaboration between Pregones and Roadside works, and what it could mean for the community he works with in southern New Jersey.

Welcome to Mississippi
Essay

Welcome to Mississippi

17 March 2015

Carlton Turner's address on the state of the arts in Mississipi from the Mississipi Performing Arts Summit, held February 15-16, 2015 in Jackson, MS.

Live-Time Storytelling for a Theatre
Essay

Live-Time Storytelling for a Theatre

1 March 2015

Aditi Kapil's playwriting residency is helping to formulate Mixed Blood's organizational narrative through social media, press materials, and show imagery.