Festivals

ArtsEmerson Artistic Director David Dower speaks with Chilean playwright Guillermo Calderón about the ongoing protests in Chile.

Sam Williams dives into several of the productions at Finland’s Tampere Theatre Festival, which ran between August 5 and 11 and which was curated based on the theme of bravery.

Dave White dives into the programming at this year’s Nová Dráma Festival in Slovakia, where women were front and center.

May Antaki reflects on the Digital + Performance Convening, produced by HowlRound Theatre Commons and SpiderWebShow Performance, which focused on the intersection of digital technology and live performance.

verity healey does a deep-dive into the Our Stage – 4th European Bürgerbühne Festival, which took place in Dresden, Germany, in May 2019.

Alex Ates reflects on the Toddler Takeover at Atlanta, Georgia’s Alliance Theatre and shares what the growing field of theatre for the very young can teach adult theatremakers about their craft.

verity healey examines the concept of theatrical space as it applies to two shows that were presented at Germany’s Our Stage festival in May: Invited and A Doll’s House.

Amanda L. Andrei reflects on Warsaw’s Generation After 3 festival, which had the theme of “risky projects,” and discusses four pieces she saw on risk as it relates to the body and the world.

In the lead-up to HowlRound’s Digital + Performance Convening, Michael Wheeler and Sydney Skybetter chatted, via Slack, about some of the big questions artists are faced with as they contemplate the connection between theatre and technology.

Howard Shalwitz, Karen Houppert, and Yury Urnov reflect on the productions they saw at this year’s Golden Mask Theatre Festival in Moscow, Russia.

verity healey discusses themes and productions from Ghent’s new theatre festival called same same but different.

Playwright and performer Rhiannon Collett examines the queer theatre landscape in Toronto.

Marci R. McMahon reports on the 2019 Latinx Theatre Commons Theatre for Young Audiences Festival and Convening, which took place in January 2019 in Austin, Texas. 

Mona Merhi reflects on four productions at France’s 2018 Avignon Festival that were created based on real-life events, people, or documentary material and questions whether staging documents is an ethical process.

Gaven Trinidad examines the recent exhibition Dance We Must: Treasures from Jacob’s Pillow and wrestles with cultural appropriation vs. cultural appreciation when it comes to costume design throughout history.

William Hand reflects on Germany’s Politik im Freien Theater Festival and discusses several shows that were presented there in November 2018.

Maddie Gaw examines the idea of the “problematic” play and Z Space’s inaugural Problematic Play Festival, which aimed to investigate why certain plays cause gatekeepers to turn away from them in favor of other material.

Amelia Parenteau explores the importance of the Seuls en Scène French Theater Festival in Princeton, New Jersey, and discuses the themes and productions at this year’s festival. / Amelia Parenteau explore l’importance du festival de théâtre français Seuls en Scène de Princeton, dans le New Jersey, et discute des thèmes et des productions du festival de cette année.

Heather Jeanne Denyer speaks with Burkina Faso playwright Aristide Tarnagda about the inspiration that comes from where we live, the Récréâtrales Festival in Ouagadougou, women in Burkinabé theatre, and more. / Heather Jeanne Denyer discute avec le dramaturge burkinabé Aristide Tarnagda à propos de l’inspiration qu’on sort de là où on habite, du festival Les Récréâtrales à Ouagadougou, et des femmes dans le théâtre au Burkina Faso.

Egyptian American playwright Adam A. Elsayigh uses the 2018 Cairo Festival for Contemporary & Experimental Theatre as a jumping off point to discuss the state of theatre in the city, censorship, playwriting, and more.

Rachel Grossman and Kirk Lynn announce the JUBILEE, a year-long nationwide festival in 2020/20201 that asks companies to commit to producing a season of work by artists who have been traditionally excluded from the American theatre.

Joyce Rosario, interim artistic director of the PuSh Festival, and producer and curator Meiyin Wang sit down to talk about whether the next crop of leaders is being set up for success, working across differences with colleagues, their respective transitions, and more.