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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
event poster
Video

A discussion on Black Women as entrepreneurs and the disparities in access to funding—Tonya Pinkins

Thursday 24 June 2021
United States

Tonya Pinkins presented Through A Black Woman’s Lens—Business and Access livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 24 June 2021 at 2 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

A blue thing surrounded by indoor palm trees.
Essay
8 June 2021

Jonathan Mandell reflects on his experience of A Dozen Dreams, an art installation that began when twelve New York City-based women playwrights were asked: “What are you dreaming about right now?”

event poster with headshot of will wilhelm and text teacakes and tarot.
Video

Theatre, Classics, and the future of queer inclusive practices are all in the cards during this intimate interview series with your next artistic crush

Thursday 3 June 2021
United States

Island Shakespeare Festival presented Teacakes and Tarot with Will Wilhelm and Robert O'Hara livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 3 June 2021 at 6:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 8:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 9:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

event poster with text details for unrehearsed futures episode nine.
Video

Episode 9: Women Teaching Physical Theatre

Thursday 3 June 2021
South Africa

Unrehearsed Futures: MASTER-LESS livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 3 June 2021 at 4 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 9 a.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 10 a.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2) / 1:30 p.m. IST (Mumbai, UTC +5:30) / 6 p.m. AEST (Hobart, UTC +10).

Two shirtless men standing next to each other on a balcony from their bedroom.
Essay
1 June 2021

Viktor Vilisov talks about the realities of queer artists and art in Russia today.

event poster with headshot of will wilhelm and text teacakes and tarot.
Video

Theatre, Classics, and the future of queer inclusive practices are all in the cards during this intimate interview series with your next artistic crush

Thursday 20 May 2021
United States

Island Shakespeare Festival presented Teacakes and Tarot with Will Wilhelm and and Jéhan Òsanyìn livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 20 May 2021 at 6:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 8:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 9:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

the four panelists.
Video

A Look at the Disparities in Hollywood & Theater for Black Women—Tonya Pinkins

Thursday 20 May 2021
United States

Theatre Communications Group presented Through A Black Woman’s Lens—A Look at the Disparities in Hollywood & Theater for Black Women—Tonya Pinkins livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 20 May 2021 at 2 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

event poster with headshot of will wilhelm and text teacakes and tarot.
Video

Theatre, Classics, and the future of queer inclusive practices are all in the cards during this intimate interview series with your next artistic crush

Thursday 6 May 2021
United States

Island Shakespeare Festival presented Teacakes and Tarot with Will Wilhelm and and Joshua Castille livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 6 May 2021 at 6:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 8:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 9:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

headshot of Dr. Mshaï Mwangola in event poster for the stories women carry episode seven.
Video

The Stories Women Carry: Creative Practice of African Women from the Continent

Monday 19 April 2021
Kenya

Tebere Arts Foundation presented the conversation The Performing Arts Sector in Kenya with The Stories Women Carry: Creative Practice of African Women from the Continent livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 19 April 2021 at 10 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 8 p.m. EAT (Nairobi, UTC +3).

An image of six actors forming a semi circle around and actor standing on actors block , The actor on the block, is lifting food to their mouth with pained expression.
Essay

Adapting The Vagina Monologues in Malawi

13 April 2021

Fumbani Innot Phiri Jr. details the creative process of the production of The Vagina Monologues that took place during 16 Days of Activism in Malawi and offers his thoughts, as an audience member, on the show’s big impact.

Video

Golden Thread’s annual celebration of International Women’s Day

Monday 8 March 2021
United States

Golden Thread presents the conversation What do the Women Say? Celebrating 25 Years of Centering Women Artists livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 8 March 2021 at 11 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 2 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Glod: Political Theatre as a Civil Right event poster.
Video

Performance followed by a panel discussion

Monday 8 March 2021
United Kingdom

BÉZNĂ Theatre presented GLOD: Political Theatre as Womxn's Right livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 8 March at 10 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 6 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +0) / 8 p.m. EEST (Cluj, UTC +2).

Set of Double Edge Theatre's production of "Leonora, la maga y la maestra".
Video

With Susan Aberth and Double Edge Theatre

Sunday 7 March 2021
United States

Double Edge Theatre presented a conversation between Double Edge Artistic Director Stacy Klein and renowned Surrealist scholar Dr. Susan L. Aberth livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 7 March 2021 at 12 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 2 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 3 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

photo of Hanane Hajj Ali.
Video

Honoring Hanane Hajj Ali of Lebanon

Tuesday 16 February 2021
United States

The League of Professional Theatre Women presented The Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 16 February 2021 at 10 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 12 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 1 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

an empty audition room
Essay

Moving Beyond Color-Blind and Color-Conscious Casting

2 February 2021

Text-based director and adaptor Lavina Jadhwani chats with casting director Victor Vazquez about her shift from using “color-conscious casting” to “identity-conscious casting,” the importance of casting being seen as part of a show’s design and dramaturgy, and more.

Who Designs in LORT Theatres by Pronoun: Positions and People
Essay
22 December 2020

Porsche McGovern shares the results of the sixth year of her study on who designs and directs in LORT theatres by pronoun.

event poster for school of resistance, episode eleven.
Video

Contemporary Feminist Futures With Sophie Lewis (USA) and Aleksandra Sidoruk (Poland)

Thursday 10 December 2020
Poland

NTGent presented School of Resistance, Episode Eleven: Reproduction, Family, and the Body livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 10 December 2020 at 9 a.m. PST (Los Angeles, UTC -8) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 17:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 18:00 CET (Brussels, UTC+1) / 20:00 TRT (Istanbul, UTC +3).

Kar Eleggua Luna Olokun Laverde
Essay

The Colombian Resistance Way / El Camino del Colombianx en Resistencia

3 December 2020

Kar Eleggua Luna Olokun Laverde talks about the relationship between state, culture, and art in Colombia; the effects of COVID-19 on resistance communities; cultural organizations that empower marginalized communities through art; and more. / Kar Eleggua Luna Olokun Laverde Sanjuan habla sobre la relación entre estado, cultura y arte en Colombia; los efectos del COVID-19 sobre las comunidades en resistencia; organizaciones culturales que empoderan comunidades marginadas a través del arte; y más.

black and white photo of two people in different masks facing each other through glass
Essay

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.

Video

The Stories Women Carry: Creative Practice of African Women from the Continent

Monday 16 November 2020
Kenya

Tebere Arts Foundation presented the conversation Contemporary Authorship and Traditional Practice with The Stories Women Carry: Creative Practice of African Women from the Continent livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 16 November 2020 at 9 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EAT (Nairobi, UTC +3).

Video

The Stories Women Carry: Creative Practice of African Women from the Continent

Monday 2 November 2020
Kenya

Tebere Arts Foundation presented the conversation Women as Culture Keepers with The Stories Women Carry: Creative Practice of African Women from the Continent livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 2 November 2020 at 9 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EAT (Nairobi, UTC +3).

two actors onstage
Essay

Reimagining Bodies Onstage

26 October 2020

Jeff Bouthiette notes that the pandemic has provided an opportunity to reevaluate and rethink everything about the way theatre is created in America, argues that this work has to include fat people, and offers suggestions for a way forward.

event description text with photo of street in chile
Video

A discussion of Chile’s exciting feminist vanguard and the performance of gender in Chilean theatre

Friday 25 September 2020
United States

The Theatre Arts and Latin American and Latinx Studies Programs at the University of Pennsylvania and Interdram, the Theatrical Platform for New Playwriting, presented the first of two Conversations on Playwriting and Social Unrest in Chile livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 25 September 2020 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 1 p.m. CLST (Santiago, UTC -3).

Poster for School of Resistance, episode 5.
Video

Building Transnational Futures with Ulrike Guérot and Srećko Horvat

Friday 25 September 2020
Ghent, Belgium

NTGent presented School of Resistance, Episode Five: Beyond Europe: Building Transnational Futures livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 25 September 2020 at 18:00 CEST (Ghent, UTC +2) / 17:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 12:00 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 9:00 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7).

youtube screenshot
Essay
24 September 2020

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.

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