Devised and Ensemble

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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. 

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

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

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

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

David Dudley on The Goodman Theatre production of José Rivera’s Another Word for Beauty, directed by Steve Cosson in Chicago, Illinois.

Actor and playwright Corey Fischer, co-founder of LA’s Traveling Jewish Theatre, discusses the origin of ensemble theatre and its manifestation in Ubuntu Theatre Projects.

Ben Yalom kicks off his series on ensemble theatre with this discussion of the differences between traditional and collaborative creative approaches to theatre.

Eva Kyselová writes about trends in independent theatre in the Czech Republic.

The Lamplighter Productions collective describes their process for founding their company, and shares the lessons they’ve learned.

In this installation, David Dudley talks with the three artistic directors of the SITI Company about what makes their program different and successful. 

In the first of a series of posts exploring positive practices and principles for theatremakers, Phil Weaver-Stoesz writes about the value of listening in the process of creation.

David Bruin on Mondo Bizarro and ArtSpot Productions’ Cry You One at the Arts & Ideas Festival in New Haven, Connecticut.