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Gender

Content here is about theatre works that explicitly address gender or about issues around gender in the field at large. Don’t miss MJ Kaufman’s series Gender Power and Politics or studies on who designs and directs in LORT theatres by pronoun and women’s leadership in LORT theatres. Many of these pieces also take an intersectional approach, such as “We Have Suffered Enough: The Cost of Performing Trauma for Women of Color” and “Let Them Speak: It’s Time to See More Works from Women Writers of Color on Stages Across America.”

The Latest

Podcast
Centering Women and Palestinian Solidarity at Golden Thread
by Nabra Nelson, Marina Johnson
14 May 2026
Video
A Conversation with Joey Arias
TORCHES: 30+ Years of Downtown Performance
Monday 6 April 2026
New York City
Video
We Begin With Classics: How To Radically Impact the Theater Landscape
Monday 30 March 2026
New York City
Two actors staring lovingly into each other's eyes.
Essay

A Conversation with Raja Benz

30 August 2022

Ann James sits down with intimacy choreographer Raja Benz to discuss her experience implementing cultures of consent in rehearsal rooms, cultivating a localized approach to intimacy work, and centering trans perspectives in theatrical processes.

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast teaser.
Podcast
24 August 2022

In this episode, Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley look at the life and legacy of playwright Robbie McCauley, who recently passed away. They discuss her work as a pioneer of solo performance as a Black woman and how she impacted the world of Black feminist theatre.

Five women in dresses drinking tea on stage.
Essay
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 Black performer wearing patterned headband and yellow shirt on stage
Essay
8 August 2022

Theatremaker Latrice Richardson addresses the ongoing misogynoir in storytelling by detailing one of her past experiences and advocates for better representation of Black women in theatre.

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast teaser.
Podcast
3 August 2022

This episode is inspired by recent and current events regarding Roe v. Wade and their potential impact on birthing people. We think about the representation of reproductive justice (things such as abortion, contraception, and anything regarding decisions to birth or plan a family) especially from Black women playwrights. We discuss plays such as They That Sit in Darkness by Mary Burrill, Rachel by Angelina Weld Grimke, Come Down Burning by Kia Corthron, In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks, and Abortion Road Trip by Rachel Lynett.

event poster for athe 2022.
Video

Dominique Morisseau’s Practice of the Possible

Friday 29 July 2022
United States

The Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) presented the conversation Writing Detroit: Dominique Morisseau’s Practice of the Possible livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Friday 29 July 2022 at 8 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 10 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 11 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Podcast
27 July 2022

In this episode, Jordan and Leticia interview playwright Pearl Cleage. They discuss the way she has navigated her career as a Black feminist/womanist playwright often working in Black spaces; how she found her home in Atlanta, Georgia; and her most recent play, Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous.

Daughter of Lorraine teaser image
Podcast
20 July 2022

In this episode, Leticia and Jordan finally explain what they mean when they say Black feminism, especially in theatre and performance. They engage Lisa M. Anderson’s tenets of Black feminist drama, alongside other contemporary scholars and artists expansion of Black feminist theatre. They discuss Black feminist theory, black feminist practice in creative work, and black feminist theatre theory.

Daughters of Lorraine - Fat Ham
Podcast
13 July 2022

This episode focuses on the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner, Fat Ham by James Ijames. Leticia and Jordan discuss the recent production at the Public Theater, its conversation and diversion from Shakespeare, representations of Black queerness, and what it means to be soft as a black person.

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast teaser.
Podcast
6 July 2022

This episode honors the life and work of composer, writer, and performer Micki Grant, who passed away in August 2021. Grant was the first Black woman to write and compose a musical that made it to Broadway, and she is also the subject of Jordan's dissertation.

Podcast
22 June 2022

This episode explores the recent revival of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, directed and choreographed by Camille A. Brown. Hosts Leticia Ridley and Jordan Ealey contextualize the production, its ongoing relevance and legacy, and its resonance in Black feminist theatre, dance, and performance.

Book launch event graphic.
Video

Fifty essays from 2011 to 2020

Tuesday 21 June 2022
Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Join HowlRound staff and theatremakers from around the world for a virtual celebration of our new book: Essays and Conversations from the First Ten Years, featuring work published on HowlRound between 2011 and 2020! Livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network Tuesday 21 June 2022 at 12 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7) / 2 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 3 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 8 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 21:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2).

2022 TCG Conference in Pittsburgh event poster.
Video

Redefining Our Art. Transforming Our Practices. Tending to Our People.

Thursday 16 June to Saturday 18 June 2022
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) presented the 2022 TCG National Conference: Pittsburgh livestreaming on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network from Thursday 16 June to Saturday 18 June 2022.

Five men in white robes sitting in a semi-circle.
Essay
16 May 2022

In 2021, Nigerian director Josephine Awele Odunze directed a powerful production of Wedlock of the Gods by Zulu Sofola. Odunze sits down with Eseovwe Emakunu to discuss the play’s connections to issues Nigerian women face today, as well as her hopes that theatre can contribute to attaining true gender parity in Nigeria.

event poster for the safe havens freedom talk Intersectionality Matters.
Video

Problematising the Mainstream Discourse on Gender Analysis in Afghanistan

Wednesday 4 May 2022
Afghanistan

Safe Havens Freedom Talks presented a conversation Intersectionality Matters: Problematising the Mainstream Discourse on Gender Analysis in Afghanistan livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 4 May 2022 at 8:30 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -7) / 12:30 p.m. UTC / 2:30 p.m. CEST (Stockholm, UTC +2) / 5 p.m. AFT (Kabul, UTC +4:30).

Six people standing together for a photo.
Essay
3 May 2022

Danielle Iwata sits down with Amy Zhang to discuss the creation and significance of her show Ascend!, which featured a cast and crew entirely made up of Asian women.

Gender Euphoria teaser image.
Podcast

With Scott Turner Schofield

30 March 2022

Gender Euphoria, the podcast, host Nicolas Shannon Savard sits down with actor, writer, consultant, educator Scott Turner Schofield. They trouble the TV/film industry's framing of Schofield as a singular "trans trailblazer," since as he notes, trans actors were, indeed, carving out spaces to make and support one another’s art long before we were invited into Hollywood or mainstream theatre spaces. The conversation dives into the shifts that Scott has noticed in audience response to his work over the course of the last twenty years and how those are in direct conversation with national politics.

Gender Euphoria teaser image.
Podcast

With D’Lo

28 March 2022

Gender Euphoria, the Podcast host Nicolas Shannon Savard sits down with actor, writer, and comedian D’Lo to talk about his career and how he uses comedy and storytelling as tools for connection, education, and compassion.

Gender Euphoria teaser image.
Podcast

With Rebecca Kling

21 March 2022

Gender Euphoria, the Podcast, host Nicolas Shannon Savard sits down with storyteller, educator, and advocate for transgender rights, Rebecca Kling. Their conversation addresses Rebecca’s work as a solo performer-turned-activist, the importance of consent in deciding to take on the trans educator role, and her radical and hilarious approach to the post-show talkback: the Strip Q and A.

Gender Euphoria teaser image.
Podcast

With siri gurudev

9 March 2022

Gender Euphoria, the podcast, host Nicolas Shannon Savard sits down with siri gurudev to talk about their devising practice which blends queer of color theory and performance techniques, popular music, and spirituality and to chat about their dissertation research on ritual, trauma, and healing in QTPOC performance.

Gender Euphoria teaser image.
Podcast

With Azure D. Osborne-Lee

28 February 2022

Gender Euphoria, the Podcast, host Nicolas Shannon Savard sits down with playwright Azure D. Osborne-Lee to talk about their play, Crooked Parts; building Black queer worlds onstage; and the mentorship, community-building, and production practices that go into bringing those worlds to life.

Video

Part artist-portrait, part history lesson, and part community forum, Coffeehouse Chronicles take an intimate look at the development of downtown theatre in New York City

Saturday 19 February 2022
New York City

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club presents Coffeehouse Chronicles #161 with Spiderwoman Theater livestreaming on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv livestreaming on Saturday 19 February 2022 at 12 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 2 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 3 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Gender Euphoria teaser image.
Podcast

With Joshua Bastian Cole

9 February 2022

In episode 1 (part 1) of Gender Euphoria, the podcast, host Nicolas Shannon Savard sits down with Joshua Bastian Cole to talk about popular tropes in transgender representation, gender legibility on stage, and the implications of each for trans and nonbinary theatremakers.

Gender Euphoria teaser image.
Podcast
2 February 2022

Welcome to Gender Euphoria, the podcast! In this episode, host and producer Nicolas Savard explains the origin story of this new podcast and what (and who) we should expect to hear from this season.

event poster for demystifying the playwriting process event.
Video

With Madeleine George, Basil Kreimendahl and Cori Thomas

Tuesday 7 December 2021
New York City

WP Theater presented Demystifying the Playwriting Process, Part Two with Madeleine George, Basil Kreimendahl and Cori Thomas livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network Tuesday 7 December at 5 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 7 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 8 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

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