Devised and ensemble-based theatre breaks down barriers and hierarchies between directors, writers, and performers in order to create work as a group of artists. In this section, you’ll find content about pieces made this way, thoughts from the creators, and learning on how to do it. The 2014 Ensemble Series is a great entry point.
The Latest
Video
Theatre in Times of War and State Violence
2026 National Institute for Directing and Ensemble Creation
Thursday 4 June 2026
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Essay
Slow-Motion Gives Forced Migrants the Chance to Move at Their Own Speed
by Dmitrii Zenkov
15 April 2026
Video
A Conversation with Purva Bedi and Mariana Newhard
In this episode of the From the Ground Up Podcast, Jeffrey Mosser discusses devising audience integrated performances with dog & pony dc founder Rachel Grossman and co-conspirator Colin K. Bills.
In this episode of the From the Ground Up Podcast, Jeffrey Mosser and Quita Sullivan of New England Foundation of the Arts talk equity in the grant making process, and share some best practices for artists applying to grants.
Herbert Siguenza, co-founder of the Latino performance troupe Culture Clash, talks about his unconventional writing path, his time working with the collective, and finding his unique voice.
In this episode of the From the Ground Up Podcast, Jeffrey Mosser talks to longtime friend and medical doctor Lindsay Puckett about the uncanny similarity in the grant application process for theatremakers and research scientists.
In episode seven of the From the Ground Up Podcast, Jeffrey Mosser talks to Leda Hoffman about her recent appointment of artistic director of Strawdog Theatre Company. This is a two-part interview with Strawdog Theatre Company—you can listen to Part One here.
Approaches to Devising New Work Alongside Actors with Disabilities
11 April 2019
Adam Roberts talks about the devising process used at TILT, a performance company in Austin, Texas, that celebrates the creative work of adult actors with disabilities.
In episode six of the From the Ground Up podcast, Jeffrey Mosser interviews Stephanie McKee about the history of Junebug Productions, and how they look to "that blue sky" to imagine what is possible for the future.
In episode five of the From the Ground Up podcast, Michaela Petro walks us down her path on becoming an ensemble member of Strawdog Theatre Company, and how she contributes to cultivating their artistic culture.
In this episode of the From the Ground Up Podcast, host Jeffery Mosser talks with Ova Saopeng of TeAda Productions about the importance of telling immigrant and refugee stories.
In episode three of the From the Ground Up podcast, Emily K. Harrison of square product theatre stresses the importance of creating space for radical inquiry by making work that provokes challenging conversations.
In episode two of the From the Ground Up podcast, Coya Paz gives us the history and a peek into the future of Free Street Theater as it enters its fiftieth anniversary.
Daniel Jackson talks about creating an interactive DIY lighting system—that the audience partially controlled—for a recent production that took place almost entirely in the dark.
In episode one of the From the Ground Up Podcast, host Jeffrey Mosser speaks with Michael Fields, the Producing Artistic Director of Dell’Arte International, about how the ensemble has grown over the past thirty years.
The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center in New York City presents Devised Theatre: Curating, Producing, Presenting (A Practical Roundtable) livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Wednesday 12 December 2018 at 2:30 p.m. PST (San Francisco) / 4:30 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 5:30 p.m. EST (New York).
Theatremaker Callie Nestleroth discusses devising a show for a library space and shares the process she developed when approaching new site-specific projects.
Co-hosted by New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) & Pangea World Theater
Sunday 2 December 2018
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) and Pangea World Theater partnered to bring you the National Theater Project (NTP) Twin Cities Regional Convening in Minnesota, which livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Sunday 2 December 2018 starting at 9 a.m. PDT / 11 a.m. CDT / 12 p.m. EDT.
Arizona State University student Ricky Quintana talks about taking his education into his own hands—by devising his own show—after a school production was cancelled earlier this year due to unforeseen circumstances.
The Network of Ensemble Theaters presented re:ROUTES—the 2018 Network of Ensemble Theaters’ National Gathering & Symposium in Tempe and Tucson, Arizona livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Wednesday 31 October to Sunday 4 November 2018.
Rob Neill, founding ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists, shares his thoughts on the company’s process, devising work, and creating rituals in theatre.
Noe Montez interviews ensemble members from New York's Pregones Theatre on Dancing in My Cockroach Killers, which ran from 7 June to 1 July 2018 at the GALA Theatre in Washington, DC.
Director Meggan Gomez reflects on working with her youth ensemble based in New Mexico to create _____ Historias, a play that is created in real-time in response to stories shared by the audience.
