Leadership

Annalisa Dias and Ronee Penoi discuss decolonizing theatre, building trust and relationships across difference, and the act of witnessing.

Katy Rubin, founder and former exeuctive director of Theatre of the Oppressed NYC, talks with new executive director Meggan Gomez about how long leaders should hold their roles in an organization, mission drift, founder’s syndrome, and more.

Linda Parris-Bailey and Diane Rodriguez talk about their own leadership transitions and what’s next, gender, race, and economic barriers; documenting work; and more.

Part II of the conversation between Michael J. Bobbitt, the recently appointed artistic director of Boston’s New Repertory Theatre, and Raymond Caldwell, the new leader of Washington’s Theater Alliance, who talk about post-show conversations and self-care.

Michael J. Bobbitt, the recently appointed artistic director of Boston’s New Repertory Theatre, and Raymond Caldwell, the new leader of Washington’s Theater Alliance, sit down to talk about race equity work, the guilt they felt leaving their previous posts, and more.

John Meredith and M Sloth Levine, of StageSource’s Gender Explosion Initiative, discuss ways theatremakers can dismantle stigmas against trans people and continue creating an inclusive theatre scene.

Part II of the conversation between Bill Rauch and Nataki Garrett—the outgoing and incoming artistic directors of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival—touches on inspiring leadership choices, pacing yourself, and cultivating diverse audiences.

Part I of the conversation between Bill Rauch and Nataki Garrett—the outgoing and incoming artistic directors of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival—touches on personal values, gratitude, and how the joy lives in the struggle.

Jordan Schwartz discusses gentrification in developing neighborhoods, how artists moving in need to work with the existing communities, and what kind of change that can bring about.

Artistic directors Joe Haj of Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theater and Rob Melrose of Houston’s Alley Theatre talk about confidence and fearlessness, a company of actors, fighting for the classics, and more.

Holly L. Derr looks at the history of the Method, where it deviates from Stanislavsky’s System, and the connection between the Method and the behavior called out by #MeToo.

D.R. Baker examines some of the realities of artists working in the American theatre and explores how empathy can be harnessed to make the industry a more positive place to work.

Carl(os) Roa offers thoughts on how organizations can create healthier workspaces, weaving in ideas from artists at Philadelphia Young Playwrights and Applied Mechanics.

Artistic directors Marya Sea Kaminski, of the Pittsburgh Public Theater, and Chris Coleman, of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, talk about board relationships, connecting with new audiences, budgets as moral documents, and more.

Owais Lightwala talks about how Toronto’s Why Not Theatre grew from a scrappy startup to an institution in their own right—which came with a greater responsibility to tackle some of Toronto theatres’s biggest challenges: space, childcare, and diversity.

David Dower, artistic director of ArtsEmerson, reflects on the many recent leadership changes in North American theatre and asks, “What now?”

Tara Branham talks about the importance of harm reduction in the rehearsal hall and shares tools she uses in her practice to reduce risk and manage it if it arises.

In Part Two of this conversation, Sarah Rasmussen, artistic director at Minneapolis’s Jungle Theater, and Joanie Schultz, former artistic director at Addison’s WaterTower Theatre, talk about their biggest successes over the past couple of years, the difference in a board’s relationship to a founding artistic director and to a new leader, and more.

In Part I of this conversation, Sarah Rasmussen, artistic director at Minneapolis’s Jungle Theater, and Joanie Schultz, former artistic director at Addison’s WaterTower Theatre, talk about the importance of working with a third party during leadership transitions, trusting your gut in decision-making, and more.

Kinan Valdez and Jacob G. Padrón talk about growing up in a theatre family, leadership in the Latinx community, the skills needed to be the artistic leader of a company, and more.

Naomi Campbell, Luminato’s new artistic director, sits down with Emma Stenning, Soulpepper’s new executive director, about theatre in Toronto, reaching communities outside of the downtown core, cross-collaboration, and more.

HowlRound Director Jamie Gahlon reflects on 2018 and looks forward to 2019.

Johanna Pfaelzer, incoming artistic director at Berkeley Rep Theatre, and Lisa Steindler, executive artistic director of Z Space, talk about creating partnerships with organizations across the Bay Area, the younger generation of leaders, and more.