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Festivals

Festivals, often organized within a specific geographic community or around a theme, are a great way for different works to be in conversation with each other. Content in this section primarily focuses around recapping theatre festivals and analyzing multiple works that were featured.

The Latest

A Roundtable Discussion on Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Sixth Edition
Video
A Roundtable Discussion on Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Sixth Edition
Presented by the Independent Theater Hungary
Thursday 28 March 2024
Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Sixth Edition
Video
Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Sixth Edition
Presented by the Independent Theater Hungary
Wednesday 20 March - Wednesday 27 March
What Makes St. Louis a Flourishing Ecosystem for New Plays and Cooperative Production Models
Essay
What Makes St. Louis a Flourishing Ecosystem for New Plays and Cooperative Production Models
by Jacob Juntunen
13 February 2024
Poster image for the Roma Heroes Theatre Festival.
A Roundtable Discussion on Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Sixth Edition
Video

A Roundtable Discussion on Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Sixth Edition

Presented by the Independent Theater Hungary

Thursday 28 March 2024

Following a week-long screening of the Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Sixth Edition, join us for a livestreamed conversation on the featured pieces with the Independent Theater Hungary. Find out more about the individual projects featured in the Roma Heroes International Theater Festival.

Poster for the Roma Heroes Festival.
Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Sixth Edition
Video

Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Sixth Edition

Presented by the Independent Theater Hungary

Wednesday 20 March - Wednesday 27 March

Independent Theater Hungary presents the Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Sixth Edition, livestreaming on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Wednesday 20 March to Wednesday 27 March 2024 at 11 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7) / 1 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 18:00 GMT (London, UTC +1) / 19:00 CET (Budapest, UTC +1) / 20:00 EET (Bucharest, UTC +2).

A row of actors read from scripts on music stands.
What Makes St. Louis a Flourishing Ecosystem for New Plays and Cooperative Production Models
Essay

What Makes St. Louis a Flourishing Ecosystem for New Plays and Cooperative Production Models

13 February 2024

Jacob Juntunen traces the collaborative network of theatres and theatremakers in St. Louis that share resources and make the city a rich environment for new play development. 

Under the Radar Event Logo.
Under The Radar Symposium Keynote Event
Video

Under The Radar Symposium Keynote Event

Visioning Emergent Paths for a Stronger Sector of National and International Performing Arts

Friday 12 January 2024
New York City

The 2024 Under the Radar Symposium convened 250 arts presenters, producers, service orgs, funders, and artists toward rigorous, facilitated small-table discussions, taking a deeper dive into visioning emergent paths for a stronger sector of national and international performing arts.

A group of people hold a white sheet between them on a lawn.
Performance, Pro-Democracy Protest, and Activism Across Cultures
Essay

Performance, Pro-Democracy Protest, and Activism Across Cultures

13 November 2023

Kristin Idaszak reflects on experiencing Theatre Du Polet’s Be Water, My Friend at the Prague Quadrennial. This protest art about Hong Kong’s fight for democracy in 2019, performed in the Czech Republic, crosses cultures, political regimes, and time periods.

artists performing on stage in colorful shirts.
PRELUDE Festival 2023
Video

PRELUDE Festival 2023

An Array of Short Performances, Readings, and Panels from the Artists at the Forefront of the Contemporary New York City Artistic Landscape

Wednesday 11 October to Thursday 19 October 2023
New York City

PRELUDE is a place to discover what voices are shaping the future of theatre and performance in New York City, to observe, engage, commune, and critique. PRELUDE offers an array of short performances, readings, and screenings—a completely free survey of the current New York moment and the work being prepared for the next season and beyond—as well as new commissions and panel discussions with artists, scholars, and performers.

Four women play the drums together on stage.
An Art Festival in Rwanda Converses with the Past and Celebrates Our Shared Present
Essay

An Art Festival in Rwanda Converses with the Past and Celebrates Our Shared Present

5 October 2023

Giulianna Marchese discusses productions from the Ubumuntu Art Festival, which is held annually at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda. Throughout this year’s festival, performances explored what it means to be a human post-tragedy—the highs and the lows.

A man in white robes looks up to the sky.
Staging Dystopias of Desire and the Poetics of Grief
Essay

Staging Dystopias of Desire and the Poetics of Grief

27 June 2023

Theresa May discusses the way that two contemporary plays with dystopian settings—Transmissions in Advance of the Second Great Dying by Jessica Huang and Somewhere by Melissa Treviño Orta—lean away from typical tropes of destruction and individualism by instead centering care, kinship, reciprocity, and interdependence.

A performer lies down on a set piece that looks like a whale.
The Intimacy of the Climate Crisis
Essay

The Intimacy of the Climate Crisis

26 June 2023

Chantal Bilodeau introduces a new installment of the Theatre in the Age of Climate Change series, which focuses contemporary plays and playwrights that explore the intimate impacts of climate change on both individuals and communities.

From the Ground Up Podcast Teaser image featuring guest profile image.
Ontroerend Goed’s Participatory Metaphors
Podcast

Ontroerend Goed’s Participatory Metaphors

24 May 2023

Artistic director of Belgian theatre company Ontroerend Goed, Alexander Devriendt talks through their process for imagining and developing participatory content. Alexander and Jeffrey Mosser also dig into financing art in Europe, the cost of touring internationally and how COVID has affected it, and sustaining family and art simultaneously.

A woman sitting outside on a scooter in front of a flowering tree.
Taking Care: Supporting Delegates with Invisible Disabilities at Festivals and Showcases
Essay

Taking Care: Supporting Delegates with Invisible Disabilities at Festivals and Showcases

15 May 2023

Second Hand Dance embarked upon research on support for artists with access needs after artistic director Rosie Heafford had to pull out of a festival that did not provide sufficient accommodations for her invisible disability. She shares takeaways from that research in the form of actionable steps that festivals, showcases, and industry events can implement.

Two performers embracing in the middle of the stage.
Black Southern Playwrights Take Center Stage
Essay

Black Southern Playwrights Take Center Stage

27 April 2023

Amelia Parenteau introduces the We Will Dream: New Works Festival, a festival showcasing new plays by Black playwrights originating from or working in the American South.

From the Ground Up Podcast image featuring Miranda Wright.
Ensemble as Contemporary Commentary
Podcast

Ensemble as Contemporary Commentary

19 April 2023

Miranda Wright, producer and executive director at Los Angeles Performance Practice, and Jeffrey Mosser discuss how Miranda has developed a presenting organization for sharing ambitious, collaboratively created work over the last ten years, as well as what she’s learned from some major arts funding research.

From the Ground Up Podcast Teaser image.
What Ensemble Touring Can Learn from Dance
Podcast

What Ensemble Touring Can Learn from Dance

29 March 2023

Jeffrey Mosser connects with Willa Jo Zollar, who is founder, chief visioning partner, and MacArthur Genius at Urban Bush Women. Together they talk about touring, the festival circuit, and strategy necessary to sustain a company for thirty years.

An actor dressed as President Zelensky points a prop gun at an unseen target.
Reflecting on the Timeliness of Polish Theatre at Kraków’s Divine Comedy Theatre Festival
Essay

Reflecting on the Timeliness of Polish Theatre at Kraków’s Divine Comedy Theatre Festival

2 March 2023

The Divine Comedy Theatre Festival in Kraków, Poland explored the theme of “Polish Taboo” across its thirty-two productions this year. Howard Shalwitz, who attended the festival as part of an American delegation of artists building connections between the United States and Poland, shares his experience attending the festival.

Two actors in yellow-green outfits standing over another actor in white lying on a table.
Female Stories from Kosovo: How Two Plays Look at the Loneliness of Balkan Women
Essay

Female Stories from Kosovo: How Two Plays Look at the Loneliness of Balkan Women

10 January 2023

Theatremaker verity healey discusses two plays from Kosovo’s 2022 Theatre Showcase that highlight Balkan women’s stories and struggles.

Critical Stages in Malawian Contemporary Theatre teaser image with the title at the top and a picture of the guest in the middle.
Producing Malawi’s First Multidisciplinary Arts Festival
Podcast

Producing Malawi’s First Multidisciplinary Arts Festival

9 January 2023

When filmmaker Thomas Chibambo founded the Blantyre Arts Festival in 2009, it was Malawi’s first multi-disciplinary arts festival. He joins host Fumbani Innot Phiri, Jr. to discuss the Blantyre Arts Festival’s current plans to better support theatrical performance and his own work to establish an Arts Council in Malawi.

An actor sits on a pure white stage with a white background and a human-sized laptop behind them.
Exodus and the Autobiography of War at Tbilisi International Festival
Essay

Exodus and the Autobiography of War at Tbilisi International Festival

5 January 2023

Yaşam Özlem Gülseven interviews Mikheil Charkviani about his work on Exodus, a production that traded grand historical narratives for granular perspectives on the impact of war in Georgia. Their interview, like the production, hinges on an important question: how do we learn to live with the past?

Critical Stages in Malawian Contemporary Theatre teaser image with the title at the top and a picture of the guest in the middle.
Development of Malawian Theatre
Podcast

Development of Malawian Theatre

A Conversation with Maxwell Chiphinga

9 November 2022

Maxwell Ciphinga, better known as Max DC, has weathered massive changes in the audience, form, and funding of Malawian theatre throughout his four-decade career. In this interview, he shares his perspective on the industry and discusses his policy and producorial work as the president of Malawi’s new National Theatre Association.

Kunafa and Shay Teaser Image.
Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival
Podcast

Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival

4 October 2022

In this special episode, Marina and Nabra sit down with Lebanese actor, theatremakers, and peacebuilder Raffi Feghali to talk about the Buffer Fringe Festival. Buffer Fringe is an annual festival with a mission for peacebuilding and social justice, organized by Home for Cooperation and situated in the buffer zone in Cyprus. Buffer Fringe runs 7-9 October 2022, presenting three days of international, interdisciplinary, experimental performances under the theme of Pockets (beyond). Join us as we explore improv in Lebanon, experimental theatre in a geographically contentious area, and artistic curation for peacebuilding.

Four actors sit and stare at the ceiling.
The Future Is in Culture
Essay

The Future Is in Culture

A Conversation with Iman Aoun

15 September 2022

Multidisciplinary artist Ash Marinaccio sits down with the co-founder and artistic director of ASHTAR Theatre Iman Aoun to discuss this year’s ASHTAR International Youth Festival in Palestine.

event poster for the roma heroes festival 2022.
Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Fifth Edition
Video

Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Fifth Edition

Presented by the Independent Theater Hungary

Monday 12 September - Friday 16 September 2022
Budapest, Hungary

Independent Theater Hungary presented the Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Fifth Edition livestreaming on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Monday 12 September to Friday 16 September 2022 at 9 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles, 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 (Budapest, UTC +2) / 19:00 EEST (Bucharest, UTC +3).

event poster for puppets in the green mountains festival 2022.
Puppets in the Green Mountains 2022
Video

Puppets in the Green Mountains 2022

Access Through The Arts Panel Discussions Exploring the Theme of Roots and Wings

Saturday 10 September - Sunday 18 September 2022
United States

Sandglass Theater presented events from the Puppets in the Green Mountains Festival 2022 livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 10 September, Saturday 17 September, and Sunday 18 September 2022.

Five women in dresses drinking tea on stage.
Gathering Momentum: Türkiye’s Independent Theatre in President Erdoğan’s Near-Autocracy
Essay

Gathering Momentum: Türkiye’s Independent Theatre in President Erdoğan’s Near-Autocracy

15 August 2022

verity healey describes the power and significance of independent theatre in Türkiye by sharing her experience at the theatre festival, TheatreIST.

A parade of men women and children carrying a flag.
Side-yard: On the Commons, the Neighborhood, Grief, and Not Making Theatre While Still Making Theatre
Essay

Side-yard: On the Commons, the Neighborhood, Grief, and Not Making Theatre While Still Making Theatre

15 March 2022

Play House is a collectively stewarded performance space near the border of Detroit and Hamtramck that has become a place of convening and creation for the neighborhood. Richard Newman, a co-manager of the space and co-director of The Hinterlands ensemble, traces connections between creative practice, community, grief, and an outdoor ramp at Play House.