Interviews

In this article for the Performing the Internet series, Miller Puckette and Onyx Ashanti get together for a conversation about the changing landscape of multimedia technology in the arts, how technologically mediated performance practices have taken on new relevance in the post-COVID era, and more.

As part of the Performing the Internet series, Martim Galvão and Todd Anderson have a conversation about the unconscious “performance” and emotional journey of web browsing, internet mixtapes, building websites for performance, and more.

Anchuli Felicia King and Adam Cooper-Terán talk about how the object of the internet functions in their creative work, the ethics of the internet, digital apocalypse art, and more.

Barbara Fuchs chats with director and designer Jared Mezzocchi about his digital theatre production Russian Troll Farm, how to reverse-engineer Zoom, Isadora as the way forward, and more.

Jennifer Rodrigo sits down in conversation with Sabera Shaik, the artistic director of Malaysia’s Masakini Theatre Company, about the country’s fragmented arts community, shadow theatre, and more.

Carrie Klewin Lawrence and Amy Clare Tasker have a conversation about devising online, if that’s considered “theatre” or not, audience participation, and more.

Soyica Colbert sits down with playwright Natsu Onoda Power to talk about protesting against the United States military presence in Okinawa, Japan; in-person audiences versus virtual ones, Natsu’s new piece Okiniawa Demo Reel, and more.

Playwright Hallie Palladino chats with intimacy director Gaby Labotka about how intimacy directors approach scripts, the importance of a well-chosen adverb, and the necessity of innovation, now more than ever, to keep performers healthy and safe.

Holly Derr interviews Lavina Jadhwani about the document she created called Dismantling Anti-Black Linguistic Racism in Theatre, which offers several examples of potentially anti-Black language, such as Ethiopian, master, and minstrel; their use in Shakespeare; why they might be problematic; and possible substitutions.

Seattle-based Jasmine Mahmoud talks to New York–based Autumn Knight about Knight’s recent performance Our Water is Melted Snow, geography and audiences, and staging and presence across screens.

Mariela Lopez Flores speaks with Ariadna Ferreira—one of the creators of the show Mexicatas—about the realities of migration, Catalan vs. Mexican cultures, and more. / Mariela López habla con Ariadna Ferreira—una de las creadoras de la obra de teatro Mexicatas—sobre las realidades de la migración, la cultura catalana vs la cultura mexicana, y más.

Flo Low interviews Israeli theatremaker Ruth Kanner about what she calls “storytelling theatre,” her experience teaching in an American classroom, the impact of cross-cultural exchange, and more.

Keith Barker and Lindsay Lachance talk about the challenges and rewards of working in mixed company with Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, including what it’s like to navigate work with sensitive subject matter, including Indigenous histories and colonization.

Playwright Herbert Sigüenza talks to seven of his Latinx playwriting friends about how they’ve been affected by COVID-19, writing during this time, the future of Latinx theatre in the United States, and more.

Michelle Hensley and Abe Rybeck—former founders and artistic directors of Minneapolis’s Ten Thousand Things and Boston’s the Theater Offensive, respectively—discuss their leadership transition, including knowing when to step back, succession planning, fears of leaving, and more.

HowlRound’s director, Jamie Gahlon, talks with theatremaker Mihaela Drăgan about contemporary Roma theatre and the artistic movement Roma Futurism.

Summer Robinson interviews playwright Lynden Harris about her work creating theatre with men on death row across the United States.

Madeleine George and Mike Lew talk about writing comedy for theatre, vulnerability as playwrights, working with different aesthetics, and more.

Frankie Mulinix speaks with Rob Mello, owner of Atlanta’s Rob Mello Studios, about the city’s artistic spaces, governmental and organizational support, the lack of arts coverage, and more.