fbpx LGBTQIA+ Theatre | HowlRound Theatre Commons

LGBTQIA+ Theatre

This section contains content about work created by and for the LGBTQIA+ community. Dive in with the series Gender Power and Politics, curated by MJ Kaufman, or Beyond Angry Lesbians and Gay Best Friends: Writing Gender and Sexuality in the 21st Century, a panel from the Dramatists Guild.

The Latest

The Queer-Trans Performance Family Tree is more of a Galaxy
Podcast
The Queer-Trans Performance Family Tree is more of a Galaxy
With Guest H. May
by Nicolas Shannon Savard, H. May
13 September 2023
Queer Archival Praxis Roundtable
Podcast
Queer Archival Praxis Roundtable
With Guests David Silvernail, Janet Werther, Victoria Lafave, Jordan Ealey, and Kelli Crump
by Nicolas Shannon Savard, David Silvernail, Janet Werther, Victoria LaFave, Jordan Ealey, Kelli Crump
6 September 2023
Composting Queer Trauma through a Collaborative Process in SEAL
Essay
Composting Queer Trauma through a Collaborative Process in SEAL
by Rachel Pottern Nunn, Dante Fuoco, Clara Weist
24 August 2023
Full of Grace, a Catholic Docudrama
Essay

Full of Grace, a Catholic Docudrama

4 November 2015

Henrik Eger reports on the trajectory of the Catholic docudrama Full of Grace from vision of the late Bishop Joseph Sullivan of Brooklyn to the stage in Philadelphia.

The Hir Symposium Moderated by Author Taylor Mac
Video

The Hir Symposium Moderated by Author Taylor Mac

Monday 2 November 2015
New York, NY, United States

Playwrights Horizons in New York City presented the Hir Symposium moderated by Hir playwright Taylor Mac livestreamed on the global, commons based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 2 November at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 7 p.m. EST (New York). In Twitter, follow @PHnyc@howlroundtv—and use hashtag #howlround.

About Us Without Us
Essay

About Us Without Us

Trans Women, Labor, Power, and Performance

2 November 2015

This installment of the Gender Power and Politics Series is written by Rosza Daniel Lang/Levitsky, who discusses the lack of opportunities for trans women artists.

Conversation: Exploring the Difference between Real and Imagined Bodies on Stage
Video

Conversation: Exploring the Difference between Real and Imagined Bodies on Stage

Tuesday 13 October 2015
Boston, MA, United States

 

ArtsEmerson in Boston presented a public dialogue Exploring the Difference between Real and Imagined Bodies on Stage livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Tuesday 13 October at 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco) / 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 7 p.m. EDT (New York) / 23:00 GMT. 

TranShakespeare
Essay

TranShakespeare

Lisa Wolpe, and the Art of Empathy

16 August 2015

Director Emma Went interviews international arts activist Lisa Wolpe about the origins and ethos of TranShakespeare.

How We Grow
Essay

How We Grow

An Interview with Azure D. Osborne-Lee

15 August 2015

MJ Kaufman interviews playwright, director, and performer Azure D. Osborne-Lee about his plays and what he sees in the field as a trans artist.

When She Speaks, I Hear Her Revolution
Essay

When She Speaks, I Hear Her Revolution

Salt Lake’s Feminist Open Mic

10 August 2015

Shauna Brock describes Salt Lake City’s monthly open mic series When She Speaks I Hear the Revolution and its strides for diversity and inclusion.

Where are all the bisexuals? Understanding the gray areas of LGBTQ representation
Essay

Where are all the bisexuals? Understanding the gray areas of LGBTQ representation

28 July 2015

Dramaturg Emily White looks at the amount of LGBTQ characters in theatre, film, and television, and wonders why so few of them are bisexual. 

Men on the Verge of a His-Panic Breakdown Turns Twenty
Essay

Men on the Verge of a His-Panic Breakdown Turns Twenty

12 July 2015

Guillermo Reyes reflects on the twentieth anniversary of his play, remembers how it was received, and the challenges he came across making it.

RENTing North Dakota
Essay

RENTing North Dakota

Queer theatre in a state that might evict you

31 May 2015

In the first of a series of four posts documenting the process of producing Rent with students in North Dakota, Chelsea Pace describes overcoming her own mixed feelings about the musical to see the value in the project.

Believably Trans
Essay

Believably Trans

Who Counts as Trans Onstage?

13 May 2015

In this installation, MJ questions what makes a trans character credible onstage, and how does gender fit into color-conscious casting?

A Red Face in the Crowd
Essay

A Red Face in the Crowd

Identities of a Native American Two-Spirit Writer

25 February 2015

Ty Defoe explores what his many identities make him, what it is to be two-spirit, and the kind of art it has inspired him to make.

How Do Transpeople Talk? Writing Characters Beyond a Gender Binary
Essay

How Do Transpeople Talk? Writing Characters Beyond a Gender Binary

20 February 2015

MJ Kaufman begins a new blog series, exploring questions of gender and parity in the world of performance. In this installment, he looks at how transpeople talk.

Logo for Dramatists Guild.
Beyond Angry Lesbians and Gay Best Friends: Writing Gender and Sexuality in the 21st Century 
Video

Beyond Angry Lesbians and Gay Best Friends: Writing Gender and Sexuality in the 21st Century 

Tuesday 25 November 25 2014
New York, NY, United States

Dramatists Guild of America presented the conversation Beyond Angry Lesbians and Gay Best Friends: Writing Gender and Sexuality in the 21st Century livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 25 November 25at 2:30 p.m. PST (Los Angeles)/ 4:30 p.m. CST (Chicago)/ 5:30 p.m. EST (New York)/ 22:30 GMT (London). 

Trucks, Country Music, and Class
Essay

Trucks, Country Music, and Class

25 October 2014

I don’t want to write an article about how we don’t see enough of a certain kind of people on stage. We are all working within an unfortunate system that, for the most part, elevates the work that mirrors itself. Instead of talking about production, I want to write about the art that we are making, because we are artists making art, whether it’s produced or not.

Queering the Room
Essay

Queering the Room

Some Beginning Notions for a Queer Directing Practice

24 October 2014

Director Will Davis shares his experience navigating theatre spaces as a queer person.

The Trans Artistic Body
Essay

The Trans Artistic Body

23 October 2014

I’m at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the women’s restroom washing my hands. A woman walks in, “I must be in the wrong place,” she says and walks out. Then she walks back in, “No, you’re in the wrong place,” she says, seething with confidence. I walk out, not sure of my place.

Cast of the Fully Functional Cabaret.
Just Say Yes
Essay

Just Say Yes

22 October 2014

Drawing a comparison between the manifestation of love and activism, Annie Danger offers compelling insight into queer art in theatre.

Photo from Brown Girls Burlesque.
Going In
Essay

Going In

Gender Discovery Through Performance

22 October 2014

I gravitated towards performance art. Many questions emerged from my practice. What am I on fire to do? What gender(s) can I explore? Where is the niche for performers like me? How do I engage my entire history? Do I pursue opportunities that call for a specific gender(s)? Who is my audience? How do I market myself effectively? Will my intentions and choices determine how I am read or is that something outside my control?

Photo from Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet.
Not Here for the Bard
Essay

Not Here for the Bard

Candor from a Shakespeare Detractor

20 October 2014

Imagine, if you will, a slumber party. A group of tweens huddles around a television in the carpeted family room of a two-story house. Most of them stare, mouths slightly open, entranced by leading man Leonardo DiCaprio. Caught up in his twenty-something good looks, they have found what they’re looking for. But not all of them. Not me.

Beyond Cool
Essay

Beyond Cool

Moving Towards True Transgender Visibility

19 October 2014

MJ Kaufman shares insight on the necessity of trans voices being developed and acknowledged in diverse, multi-faceted, and complex narratives. 

Wall in the AFYT rehearsal space.
About Face Youth Theatre
Essay

About Face Youth Theatre

Checking, Expanding, and Activating Boxes

28 July 2014

In About Face Youth Theatre’s rehearsal space, there is a cluster of post-it notes on the wall titled “Where I Started.” The ensemble’s first impressions range from “not being satisfied” to “ready to just do something” to “oblivion.” These notes relate to the process of AFYT’s current play, Checking Boxes.

Portrait of Johnny Blazes.
Chosen Family
Essay

Chosen Family

A Festival of Plays, for Pride Week in Boston

24 July 2014

Allison Vanouse writes about Sleeping Weazel's 2014 festival of plays, trans cabaret, and solo performance coinciding with Boston Pride Week.

Queer Narratives in Theater for Young Audiences
Essay

Queer Narratives in Theater for Young Audiences

A Call to Action

25 June 2014

Playwright Gabriel Jason Dean and Director Lindsay Amer discuss "risky plays", queer characters and narratives, and young audiences.

Photo from HIR.
The Theater Was Ours
Essay

The Theater Was Ours

Next Gen Nights and Hir at the Magic Theatre

21 March 2014

 looks at how Magic Theatre's initative for young theatre-goes went beyond a discount, and how the premiere of Taylor Mac's Hir at the Magic complemented their earlier production of Buried Child.