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Devised and Ensemble

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

My Beatnik Youth
Video
My Beatnik Youth
Performance and Conversation with Justin Elizabeth Sayre and Fempath, moderated by Penny Arcade
Sunday 17 March 2024
New York
Art as a Weapon (Youth Against Invasion)
Video
Art as a Weapon (Youth Against Invasion)
Students from the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Palestine talk about cultural resistance and creating in times of crisis. 
Saturday 16 March 2024
Recasting, Restorying, and Restructuring Shakespeare for Liberation
Essay
Recasting, Restorying, and Restructuring Shakespeare for Liberation
by Rainier Pearl-Styles
4 March 2024
We’re Not Done
Essay

We’re Not Done

Creating Ensemble Theatre and Community with Senior Citizens

19 August 2017

Ash Marinaccio shares her experience working with seniors through a four-month residency with the Queens Theatre in New York City.

Under the Big Top
Essay

Under the Big Top

Creating Multi-Sensory Work for Children with Autism

19 July 2017

Samantha Mueller, a theatre practitioner who works with the special needs community, talks about Seesaw Theatre which creates multi-sensory work for children with autism.

Invitation to Interpret
Essay

Invitation to Interpret

An Audience Makes Meaning Together

29 May 2017

What can we learn about audience engagement and how and why audiences make meaning out of experimental theatre from a twenty-four-year performance experiment?

Collidescope 3.0
Essay

Collidescope 3.0

Adventures in Pre-and Post-Racial America

20 May 2017

Yuko Kurahashi talks about the Collidescope 3.0 project, which uses movement, video projections, and soundscape to explore black and white relations in American history.

The Bible Women’s Project
Essay

The Bible Women’s Project

Shouting to be Heard in a Religiously Conservative Environment

11 May 2017

Director and playwright Tara Brooke Watkins discusses the process of creating The Bible Women’s Project, which fuses women’s stories from the Bible and the stories of women from conservative, Christian backgrounds.

The Theatre Backpacker
Essay

The Theatre Backpacker

Flausen and New Form Development

29 April 2017

Jack Paterson meets with Winfried Wrede to talk about the development program Flausen he runs in Oldenburg, Germany.

Impressions on the Neo-Futurists’ Take on The Great American Drama
Essay

Impressions on the Neo-Futurists’ Take on The Great American Drama

7 March 2017

Cherry Lou Sy shares her experience seeing the Neo-Futurists’ The Great American Drama, which examines perceptions of the American dream and success in theatre.

The Christians Invites Political and Intellectual Humility
Essay

The Christians Invites Political and Intellectual Humility

3 March 2017

Kyle Whalen explores the “moments of the unknowable” in the Steppenwolf production of Lucas Hnath’s The Christians in Chicago, Illinois.

Devising Ai Weiwei
Essay

Devising Ai Weiwei

The Seed for Brooklyn Museum: Techniques & Process for Ensemble Interdisciplinary Performance

20 February 2017

Writer and performer Kelly Tsai shares the process of devising Ai Weiwei: The Seed, which is based on the art and writings of activist-artist Ai Weiwei.

When Family Inspires Political Protest Art
Essay

When Family Inspires Political Protest Art

4 February 2017

Bryn Boice writes about how a rift with her father led her to begin work on a devised piece called I, Snowflake.

Mutual Duality
Essay

Mutual Duality

Making The Work Matter with Double Edge Theatre at Boston Conservatory at Berklee

21 January 2017

Mark Krawczyk writes about the experience his students at Boston Conservatory at Berklee had during a semester of working with artists from Double Edge Theatre. 

Theatre and Meaning at Kakuma Refugee Camp
Essay

Theatre and Meaning at Kakuma Refugee Camp

30 November 2016

Director and educator Jessica Bauman writes about her experience teaching theatre in a refugee camp in Kenya.

Celebrating Pig Iron’s 20th Anniversary 
Video

Celebrating Pig Iron’s 20th Anniversary 

Monday 21 November 2016
New York City, NY, United States

Martin E. Segal Theatre Center in New York City presented a conversation about Pig Iron Theatre Company livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV at howlround.tv Monday 21 November at 6:30pm EST (New York) / 3:30pm PST (Los Angeles) / 5:30pm CST (Chicago) / 10:30pm GMT/UTC (London). Share your thoughts in Twitter with #howlround, and follow @HowlRoundTV for updates.

The Ghosts of the Interart
Essay

The Ghosts of the Interart

25 October 2016

Matt Opatrny writes about ensemble company Blessed Unrest and the lack of affordable space for small companies in New York City.

Double Edge Theatre’s Latin American Cycle Builds Bridges Across Massachusetts
Essay

Double Edge Theatre’s Latin American Cycle Builds Bridges Across Massachusetts

20 October 2016

Josh Platt on Double Edge Theatre’s Latin American Spectacle in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, Cada Luna Azul / Once a Blue Moon in Ashfield, Massachusetts, and the Springfield Spectacle, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Open and Roving Rehearsals
Essay

Open and Roving Rehearsals

7 October 2016

Michael Rohd and Maureen Towey share an excerpt from their new book The Penelope Project: An Arts-Based Odyssey to Change Elder Care, writing about creating and rehearsing a show in a retirement community.

Conversation with Colleen Rua
Essay

Conversation with Colleen Rua

17 August 2016

Playwright and producer Samantha Mueller talks to director and educator Colleen Rua about their mutual passion for immersive theatre.

Translation Theatre
Essay

Translation Theatre

New Saloon Theater Co. on MINOR CHARACTER

26 July 2016

Bertie Ferdman chats with New Saloon Theater Co. about their recent production, MINOR CHARACTER: Six Translations of Uncle Vanya at the Same Time at The Invisible Dog in Brooklyn, New York.

Helping an Audience Collaborate with One Another
Essay

Helping an Audience Collaborate with One Another

13 July 2016

In this installment, Damon Krometis shares his experience with garnering audience collaboration and gives tips on how to best include audience members in a performance. 

Performance of Privacy Settings: A Promethean Tale
Video

Performance of Privacy Settings: A Promethean Tale

Friday 10 June 2016
Austin, TX, United States

The VORTEX in Austin, Texas presented a performance of Privacy Settings: A Promethean Tale conceived and directed by Heather Barfield livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Friday 10 June at 9 p.m. EDT (New York) / 8 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 6 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles). Share your thoughts on Twitter and Instagram with #howlround.

Sans Everything but the Essential
Essay

Sans Everything but the Essential

Shakespeare, Space Suits, and the Power of the Human

31 May 2016

Shari Caplan on Sans Everything by Strange Attractor Theatre at the Charlestown Working Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. 

The 2016 Network of Ensemble Theaters Intersection: Ensembles + Universities Symposium
Video

The 2016 Network of Ensemble Theaters Intersection: Ensembles + Universities Symposium

20 - 22 May 2016
Chicago, IL, United States

The Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET), in association with Columbia College of Chicago and the League of Chicago Theatres, presented the second event in our multi-year series of national symposia that brings together ensemble artists, practitioners, and educators. This event is livestreamed from Chicago, Illinois on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on 20-22 May. In Twitter, use #howlround and follow @NETEnsembles.

Can Tadeusz Kantor’s ideas about death be revived in theatre about dementia?
Essay

Can Tadeusz Kantor’s ideas about death be revived in theatre about dementia?

4 May 2016

Minna Vallaste writes about a piece she created about dementia using ideas from Kantor’s Theatre of Death.

Ensemble Creation
Essay

Ensemble Creation

The Director’s Roles

2 May 2016

Director Ben Yalom discusses the differences between directing an ensemble-created piece versus a more traditional one.

A Snowball's Chance
Essay

A Snowball's Chance

23 April 2016

Sara Katzoff writes about Kickwheel Ensemble Theater’s creation of Passage, a physical theatre comedy.