Digital media and technology are ever-evolving, and so is their relationship to theatre. In this section, you can learn about how theatremakers are incorporating media and tech into their art-making and career-building, as well as read New Crit pieces about work created to be shared online. Two interesting series to explore for a sense of how quickly the conversations change are Gwydion Suilebhan’s Techne—essays written in 2013 and 2014—and Performing the Internet, curated by Kate Bergstrom in January 2021. Check out content from the 2019 Digital + Performance Convening for a multifaceted look at this topic!
The Latest
Essay
How to Embrace the Dramaturgy of Creative Caption Design
Priscilla Solis Ybarra reflects on her experience watching Virginia Grise’s a farm for meme at home, during the pandemic, with her eighty-two-year-old mother whose life shares parallels with the story in the play.
A work-in-progress video collaboration featuring artists connected to Kingston, Ontario
Wednesday 16 December 2020
Canada
anARC Theatre and the Circus Kingston Collective presented a work-in-progress performance of Uncovering livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 16 December 2020 at 3 p.m. PST (Vancouver, UTC -8) / 5 p.m. CST (Winnipeg, UTC -6) / 6 p.m. EST (Toronto, UTC -5).
Bringing La MaMa's 1960s café aesthetic to a virtual platform that links performers and audiences in real time across distance
Friday 11 December 2020
United States
La MaMa and CultureHub presented Downtown Variety: Take 16 livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 11 December 2020 at 5 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 7 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 8 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).
In which both the play’s scenes and the order in which they are performed are determined by the audience’s roll of the dice
Sunday 6 December 2020
United States
This Is Not A Theatre Company presented a performance of Readymade Cabaret 2.0 livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 6 December 2020 at 11 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 2 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).
Viviana Vargas shares what it’s been like transitioning their Bogotá-based arts, culture, and healing storefront, Balistikal, into an online space during the pandemic./Viviana Vargas comparte cómo ha sido la transición de su espacio físico en Bogotá, de arte, cultura y sanación, llamado Balistikal, a un espacio en línea durante la pandemia.
Making Performance with a "Lockdown Aesthetic" / Haciendo las obras con un "Lockdown Estética"
2 December 2020
Cris Tengono talks about how, thanks to the pandemic, a virtual artistic world has begun to develop in Colombia—one of infinite possibilities and without borders, where nationalities do not matter—and shares some of the work that has come out of it.
Actions and Reflections to Cope with the “New Normal” / Acciones y Reflexiones para Afrontar la "Nueva Normalidad"
1 December 2020
Michelle Yemayá notes that while Colombian theatre artists have found ways to face the unexpected changes this year, artists are still struggling to stay afloat. She talks about how she has adapted her practice under the circumstances and shares the stories of three other artists living and working as artists in Colombia right now. / Michelle Yemayá ha notado que, si bien los artistas del teatro colombiano han encontrado formas de enfrentar los cambios inesperados de este año, la lucha por mantenerse a flote es constante. Habla sobre cómo ha adaptado su práctica a las circunstancias y comparte las historias de otras tres personas que en este momento viven y trabajan como artistas en Colombia.
A Simultaneous Warsaw-Los Angeles Theatre Performance Event
Monday 23 November 2020
Warsaw, Poland and Los Angeles, United States
Ghost Road Company (Los Angeles) and Warsaw Bauhaus Foundation (Warsaw) presented an international real-time collaboration: original works of dance, theatre and film, created to respond to the work of maverick Polish composer and playwright Boguslaw Schaeffer at 12 p.m. PST (Los Angeles, UTC -8) / 3 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 20:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 21:00 CET (Warsaw, UTC +1).
A conversation on how collectives have been devising new grassroots engagement strategies during this time of remote connection
Friday 20 November 2020
United States
CultureHub LA presented the conversation Being Apart, Being Together livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 20 November 2020 at 5 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 7 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 8 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).
CultureHub and La MaMa presented a performance of Mute Swan livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 16 November at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) AND AT 6 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 8 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 9 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).
Janice Rabian shares the discoveries she made during her summer research project about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the theatre field and how leaders are pivoting after the murder of George Floyd.
Exploring themes of (dis)connection to our ancestry, to this moment, and to each other
Sunday 1 November 2020
United States
Honest Accomplice Theatre presented a performance of unmuted livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 1 November 2020 at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).
Two players compete online for sweet art money in culturecapital, the arts economy trading card game
Tuesday 27 October 2020
Canada
The fourth round of culturecapital:online LUKE REECE vs DANI FECKO livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 27 October 2020 at 6 p.m. PDT (Vancouver, UTC-7) / 8 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 9 p.m. EDT (Toronto, UTC-4) / Thursday 21 May 10:00 KST (Seoul, UTC+9) / 13:00 NZST (Auckland, UTC+12).
An online conversation between two artists Tania El Khoury and Mohamad Ali “Dali” Agrebi
Saturday 24 October 2020
United Kingdom
performingbordersLIVE20 and Live Art Development Agency presented Lavender Man, a performance to camera, livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 24 October 2020 at 1:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 6:30 p.m. BST (London, UTC+1) / 19:30 CEST (UTC+2).
Bringing La MaMa's 1960s café aesthetic to a virtual platform that links performers and audiences in real time across distance
Friday 23 October 2020
New York City
La MaMa and CultureHub presented Downtown Variety: Take 15 livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 23 October 2020 at 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).
A new performance to camera suggesting that there is a connection between ourselves and the earth
Friday 23 October 2020
London, United Kingdom
performingbordersLIVE20 and Live Art Development Agency presented a performance of RE:seeding, in correspondence Performance to Camera by Jade Montserrat livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 23 October 2020 at 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 7 p.m. BST (London, UTC+1) / 20:00 CEST (UTC+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.
A Virtual Reality Symposium for Canadian artists and XR technologists, exploring creation and performance in XR
Friday 2 October to Saturday 10 October
Canada
Toasterlab presented the symposium Performance and XR 2020 (PXR2020) livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Friday 2 October to Saturday 10 October 2020.
Carrie Klewin Lawrence and Amy Clare Tasker have a conversation about devising online, if that’s considered “theatre” or not, audience participation, and more.
Two players compete online for sweet art money in culturecapital, the arts economy trading card game
Wednesday 30 September 2020
Canada
The third round of culturecapital:online JENNA RODGERS vs MADDIE BAUTISTA livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 30 September 2020 at 6 p.m. PDT (Vancouver, UTC-7) / 8 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 9 p.m. EDT (Toronto, UTC-4) / Thursday 21 May 10:00 KST (Seoul, UTC+9) / 13:00 NZST (Auckland, UTC+12).
A Dramaturgical Perspective on Tabletop Role-Playing Games
29 September 2020
Todd Brian Backus, Percival Hornak and Nicholas Orvis—three dramaturgs and gamers—talk about what theatremakers can learn from the collaborative storytelling techniques employed in tabletop role-playing games.
Jean Tarbox discusses Wesleyan University’s Zoom adaptation of The Method Gun as a radical invention that invited audiences to see and interpret reality on a deeper, more perceptual basis.
Rebecca Salzhauer writes about Finish the Fight, a piece of online theatre that reminds viewers how theatre is a communion, a two-sided contract between storyteller and story-hearer, bound by the terms of being alive.
Re-imagining performances originally created for Re-Fest 2020, CultureHub’s annual festival that brings together artists, technologists, and activists
Saturday 19 September 2020
Los Angeles, California
CultureHub LA presented a performance Re-Re-Generation livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 19 September 2020 at 7 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7) / 9 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 10 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).
Bringing La MaMa's 1960s café aesthetic to a virtual platform that links performers and audiences in real time across distance
Friday 18 September 2020
New York City
La MaMa and CultureHub presented Downtown Variety: Take 14 livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 18 September 2020 at 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).
