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Economics

In this section, theatremakers explore the economic realities of producing art and making a career in our industry. Topics explored include internship culture, economic precarity, unions, dynamic pricing, and more.

The Latest

IETM Focus Brussels 2022: "Beyond Fairness: Stories of Solidarity"
Video
IETM Focus Brussels 2022: "Beyond Fairness: Stories of Solidarity"
Brussels-based artist Anna Rispoli talks about the Common Wallet project.
Thursday 7 April 2022
Brussels, Belgium
There’s No Such Thing as an Original Play
Essay
There’s No Such Thing as an Original Play
by Ezra Brain
22 March 2022
The Long Match
Video
The Long Match
A Two-Day HowlRound Conversation Exploring the Intersection of Art, Culture, and Commoning (and Beyond)
Thursday 17 March and Friday 18 March 2022
Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA - and online.
event poster for I.E.T.M Brussels focus.
IETM Focus Brussels 2022: "Beyond Fairness: Stories of Solidarity"
I.E.T.M. International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts logo.
IETM
Video

IETM Focus Brussels 2022: "Beyond Fairness: Stories of Solidarity"

Brussels-based artist Anna Rispoli talks about the Common Wallet project.

Thursday 7 April 2022
Brussels, Belgium

IETM – International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts – presented a keynote "Beyond Fairness: Stories of Solidarity" by Brussels-based artist Anna Rispoli on the Common Wallet project. Livestreaming on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network Thursday 7 April 2022 at 9 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 2 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 15:00 CEST (Brussels, UTC +2).

Four actors hold another one in the air.
There’s No Such Thing as an Original Play
Essay

There’s No Such Thing as an Original Play

22 March 2022

In this rethinking of authorship in contemporary theatre, Ezra Brain uses a collaborative definition of creativity to open up opportunities for theatre workers to advocate for pay equity.

event poster for The Long Match livestream.
The Long Match
Double Edge Theatre
howlround logo
HowlRound Theatre Commons
Video

The Long Match

A Two-Day HowlRound Conversation Exploring the Intersection of Art, Culture, and Commoning (and Beyond)

Thursday 17 March and Friday 18 March 2022
Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA - and online.

Double Edge Theatre and HowlRound presented two conversations exploring the intersection of art, culture, and commoning livestreaming on the commons-based peer produce HowlRound TV network Thursday 17 March and Friday 18 March 2022.

A man in a suit and glasses standing and smiling behind two figures.
You Want Me to Balance What?
Essay

You Want Me to Balance What?

Why the Argument That Fiscal Sustainability is More Important Than Investing in Racial Justice Needs to Go Away

16 December 2021

Ryan Ferrebee discusses the disadvantages of theatres attempting to balance fiscal responsibility with anti-racism work from his perspective as a white fundraising professional.

From the Ground Up Podcast image featuring Rachel Dickstein.
Process Performances and the Completion Commission
Podcast

Process Performances and the Completion Commission

15 December 2021

Rachel Dickstein, Artistic Director of Ripe Time, takes us through her experience with Center Theatre Group’s completion commission for their adaptation of SLEEP. She also spotlights some necessary and helpful relationships with tour presenting partners, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, as well as champion and friend Diane Rodriguez.

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Ambrose Idemudia Joshua and Rusanda Curcă
Podcast

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Ambrose Idemudia Joshua and Rusanda Curcă

12 November 2021
The Future is Now
The Future Is Now: Conversations with Selma Banich and Fatin Farhat
Podcast

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Selma Banich and Fatin Farhat

10 November 2021

In these episodes of The Future Is Now, CEC Artslink invites two of their Future Fellows, artist and activist Selma Banich and freelance cultural manager Fatin Farhat, to discuss how they envision the future of arts practice.

The Future is Now
The Future Is Now: Conversations with Amirah Sackett, Malika Umarova, and Marat Raiymkulov
Podcast

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Amirah Sackett, Malika Umarova, and Marat Raiymkulov

9 November 2021

In these episodes of The Future Is Now, CEC Artslink invites three of their Future Fellows—Amirah Sackett, an independent artist and activist, and Malika Umarova and Marat Raiymkulov of Art Group 705—to share their vision for how they see the future of arts practice.

Study into Action calendar listing of the five episodes.
Art.coop Study-into-Action (ASL and Live Captions)
art coop logo. illustration of a dandelion with text that says art dot coop.
Art.Coop
Video

Art.coop Study-into-Action (ASL and Live Captions)

Artists Need the Solidarity Economy and the Solidarity Economy Needs Artists

Fridays 3 September to 1 October 2021
Global

Art.coop invited you to study-into-action with us on five Fridays this fall. Our aim is to connect cultural innovators across silos who do not know one another well, but are building the cultural economy we want. We need to socialize, study, and dream together before we can take collective action. Artists need the solidarity economy, and the solidarity economy needs artists! Livestreaming on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Fridays from 3 September to 1 October 2021 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 17:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 18:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2).

A magical black female figure breaking open a door.
Can I Come? Envisioning the Future of Inclusion on Broadway and Beyond
Essay

Can I Come? Envisioning the Future of Inclusion on Broadway and Beyond

13 September 2021

Regina Victor paints a picture of a future for the theatre industry with cultural strategy at the center.

Money Matters With Ann James of Intimacy Coordinators of Color.
Money Matters
Podcast

Money Matters

With Ann James of Intimacy Coordinators of Color

8 September 2021

Yura Sapi sits down with Ann James, founder of Intimacy Coordinators of Color, whose mission is to support and promote decolonized intimacy education and inclusive hiring practices in the entertainment industry.

A black and white image of a flower and a raised fist drawn on a portion of a wooden door with a hinge.
The Price of Pay Activism
Essay

The Price of Pay Activism

2 September 2021

Genevieve Beller and Elsa Hiltner discuss exploitation and abuse in the theatre field, pay equity, how there should always be space for people to learn and move forward in a better way, and more.

poster for get fossil fuels off the stage.
Get Fossil Fuels Off the Stage!
Groundwater Arts
Video

Get Fossil Fuels Off the Stage!

With a Performance of The Water Song by Oogie Push and a Contract Rider Panel on Divestment.

Saturday 14 August 2021
United States

Groundwater Arts presented Get Fossil Fuels Off the Stage! which includes a performance of The Water Song by Oogie Push followed by a contract rider panel on divestment featuring Nikkole Salter, Brandon Michael Nase, and Michael Fran. Livestreamed on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Saturday 14 August 2021 at 1 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7) / 3 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 4 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 21:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 22:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2).

Ashley Malafronte in a black shirt and kakis painting on a stone wall.
Internships are Dead. Long Live Internships.
Essay

Internships are Dead. Long Live Internships.

22 July 2021

Ashley Malafronte and Michael DeWhatley ask: How can future-minded theatres revolutionize their internship programs to create a more diverse, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial set of initiatives?

Nine actresses in soccer uniforms with most of them doing goofy gestures. Some have orange peels in their mouths.
Maybe There’s More Than Enough: Escaping the Scarcity Mindset in Nonprofit Theatre
Essay

Maybe There’s More Than Enough: Escaping the Scarcity Mindset in Nonprofit Theatre

10 June 2021

Alix Rosenfeld offers suggestions for nonprofits seeking to move out of a scarcity mindset, embrace a spirit of abundance, and build pathways to a more ethical and equitable ecosystem.

Illustration by Silent Fox, inspired by the essay.
When Theatre Will Become Fully Itself: Digital Supratheatre and the Fight for an Inclusive Future
Essay

When Theatre Will Become Fully Itself: Digital Supratheatre and the Fight for an Inclusive Future

Translated by Cecilia Laslo

25 May 2021

Mihaela Drăgan introduces digital supratheatre—a theatre of the future with two underlying principles: technological change and social change.

headshot of Chris Meyers.
SEGAL TALKS with Chris Myers
Segal_Centre_Logo
Segal
Center
Video

SEGAL TALKS with Chris Myers

Join us for a conversation about curating, producing and presenting theatre and performance in the Time of Corona

Wednesday 5 May 2021
United States

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented SEGAL TALKS with Chris Myers livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 5 May 2021 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

An Image of four panels. The first has a waste basket and crumbled paper in it it. The second have children looking at a stage with their backs to us. The third is a person in a green shirt with long black hair sitting at a desk in and office talking to a person who has their back to us. The fourth panel has a podium with a slot, and various rectangles and circles surrounding it.
Creating Theatre for Our Future, Together
Essay

Creating Theatre for Our Future, Together

29 April 2021

Mary Kathryn Nagle predicts four main ways the American theatre will devise a future where theatrical storytelling does not directly contribute to white supremacy.

The author, Chris Mayers (left), and Rachel Nicks (right) in a hospital scene for the play WAR.
Art at Work
Essay

Art at Work

Class Consciousness and the Transformation of the World

20 April 2021

Chris Myers talks about the importance of class politics and makes a case for why artists ought to reckon with it, both as creative people and just plain workers.

purple border around black text economic transperency in commercial theater.
Economic Transparency in the Commercial Theatre
Producer Hub
Video

Economic Transparency in the Commercial Theatre

Let’s talk about how we talk about money

Thursday 15 April 2021
United States

Producer Hub presented the conversation Economic Transparency in the Commercial Theatre with their series Producing Ethically in 2021 livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 15 April 2021 at 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Several actors as prisoners, civilians, doctors and nurses in Bertolt Brecht's Fear and Misery of the Third Reich.
Towards a Marxist Theatre
Essay

Towards a Marxist Theatre

15 April 2021

Ezra Brain argues that political theatre has largely been reduced to simply calling out the problems in society, effectively preaching to the choir, and believes that in order to save political theatre, it must be re-Marxed.

Kamilah Forbes portrait.
Imagining a Way Forward
Essay

Imagining a Way Forward

Discussions on Theatre and Race

30 March 2021

Kamilah Forbes, artistic director of the Apollo Theater, speaks with Wes Jackson and P. Carl about the American theatre being a very slow-moving ship, genre-crossing for artists and organizations, systemic racism in the field, and more.

Illustration of Black people tearing down barriers.
A Future Built by Us
Essay

A Future Built by Us

An Imagination Exercise with The Movement Theatre Company

25 March 2021

The Movement Theatre Company members David Mendizábal, Deadria Harrington, Eric Lockley, Taylor Reynolds, and Ryan Dobrin share their visioning for a more equitable theatre field.

three people posing for a photo in an ikea warehouse
Obvious Agency and Creative Cooperative Futures
Essay

Obvious Agency and Creative Cooperative Futures

15 March 2021

Arianna Gass and Daniel Park share their experience restructuring their company into a worker cooperative and what benefits this model offers.

four people posing for a photo outside in a city
Sharing the Load
Essay

Sharing the Load

Adapting to the Pandemic in a Shared Leadership Role

2 March 2021

In a conversation that took place in November 2020, Meropi Peponides and Yury Urnov discuss stepping into shared leadership roles, adapting during the pandemic, paying salaries to actors, and more.