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Digital Media and Technology

Digital media and technology are ever-evolving, and so is their relationship to theatre. In this section, you can learn about how theatremakers are incorporating media and tech into their art-making and career-building, as well as read New Crit pieces about work created to be shared online. Two interesting series to explore for a sense of how quickly the conversations change are Gwydion Suilebhan’s Techne—essays written in 2013 and 2014—and Performing the Internet, curated by Kate Bergstrom in January 2021. Check out content from the 2019 Digital + Performance Convening for a multifaceted look at this topic!

The Latest

Theatre By and For Gamers
Podcast
Theatre By and For Gamers
by Tjaša Ferme, Emma Bexell
14 March 2024
Aerial Performance in a Wheelchair 
Podcast
Aerial Performance in a Wheelchair 
by Tjaša Ferme, Laurel Lawson
7 March 2024
Gore and Myth in Theatre Mitu's (holy) BLOOD
Podcast
Gore and Myth in Theatre Mitu's (holy) BLOOD
by Tjaša Ferme, Rubén Polendo
29 February 2024
PUHA Podcast Teaser.
Visual Arts
Podcast

Visual Arts

21 September 2022

In the third episode of PUHA podcast, co-hosts Zsófi and Bíborka talk to the interdisciplinary collective Hollow, the experimental scenographer Eszter Kálmán, and dancer-choreographer Beatrix Simkó. Together, they discuss how their work features across different media and mixes visual and digital art with performativity. Get ready for a journey across household noise choreographies, moving bodies in Vienna’s Leopold Museum, underground queer communities in Tbilisi, and stories of friendship and pregnancy in performance art!

A screenshot of 3 actors on Zoom performing a musical in costume.
The TikTok Revolution
Essay

The TikTok Revolution

9 August 2022

Katy Zapanta champions TikTok as a platform with the potential to revolutionize the theatre industry’s systemic issues.

An audience member being tucked into bed by an actor on stage.
Playable Plays: Toward a New Interactivity
Essay

Playable Plays: Toward a New Interactivity

18 July 2022

Theatremaker Drew Paryzer discusses the creative potential of interactive art and the impact that the “playability” of a show can have on audiences.

Full cast sit together for a picture.
Seeing Double: Double Consciousness as a Black Theatre Practitioner
Essay

Seeing Double: Double Consciousness as a Black Theatre Practitioner

14 July 2022

Ekemini Ekpo applies W.E.B. Dubois’ concept of “double consciousness” to the experience of performing Blackness for a predominantly white audience that may or may not be interested in disturbing the primacy of their own lived experience.

Audio file for a podcast.
How to Produce a Podcast Series: A Beginner-Friendly Guide to the Art of Podcasting
Essay

How to Produce a Podcast Series: A Beginner-Friendly Guide to the Art of Podcasting

7 June 2022

Tatiana Hernandez-Mitchell, a podcast consultant for HowlRound, offers a guide to the technical side of producing podcasts. This guide focuses on equipment, software, and best practices.

Cultural Mobility Forum event poster.
Cultural Mobility Forum 2022 on Digital Mobility
Video

Cultural Mobility Forum 2022 on Digital Mobility

Hosted by Nordic Culture Point in Helsinki, Finland and On the Move

Wednesday 25 May 2022
Helsinki, Finland

Cultural Mobility Forum 2022 hosted by Nordic Culture Point in Helsinki, Finland and On the Move livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network Wednesday 25 May 2022 at 07:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 08:00 CEST (Brussels, UTC +2) / 09:00 EEST (Helsinki, UTC +3) / 14:00 SGT (Singapore, UTC +8) / 16:00 AEST (Sydney, UTC +10).

Kunafa and Shay Teaser Image.
Multihyphenate Artists
Podcast

Multihyphenate Artists

With Denmo Ibrahim and Sarah Fahmy

25 May 2022

Artistic identities can be complicated, and many theatremakers work equally within two or more disciplines simultaneously. The most interesting work is rarely created in a vacuum. These multidisciplinary artists create diverse projects in all senses of the word, broadening our idea of what theatre can and should be. Today, two such multihyphenate artists, Denmo Ibrahim and Sarah Fahmy, converse about their multiple identities, how they reconcile and manage their myriad expertise, and the role of multihyphenate artists in today’s theatre landscape.

digital collage of photos.
Re-Fest 2022
Video

Re-Fest 2022

Bringing artists, activists, and technologists together to explore our role in reshaping the future

Wednesday 16 March - Friday 25 March 2022
United States

CultureHub presented Re-Fest 2022 livestreaming on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network from Wednesday 16 March to Friday 25 March 2022.

performer in a tilted white box.
Performance and Workshop by Theatre in Quarantine (TiQ)
Video

Performance and Workshop by Theatre in Quarantine (TiQ)

Symposium: Performing Arts in the Digital Age: Interactions and New Directions

Friday 11 March and Saturday 12 March 2022
College Park, Maryland, USA

University of Maryland's Maya Brin Institute for New Performance presented a performance and workshop by Theatre in Quarantine (TiQ) (Joshua William Gelb and Katie Rose McLaughlin) as part of the symposium Performing Arts in the Digital Age: Interactions and New Directions. Livestreaming on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network Friday 11 March and Saturday 12 March 2022.

event poster for deaf woke with erin phillips.
#DeafWoke with Erin Phillips AKA DM3
Video

#DeafWoke with Erin Phillips AKA DM3

#DeafWoke is a Virtual Consciousness-raising, Engaging Online Talk Show, Led by Black and Native American Deaf Host Mr. Antoine Hunter PurpleFireCrow

Tuesday 15 February 2022
United States

Antoine Hunter presented #DeafWoke with Erin Phillips AKA DM3 livestreaming on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Tuesday 15 February 2022 at 5 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 7 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 8 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Two women sitting across from each other being filmed in a living room.
Podcasts and Zooms and Plays, Oh My!
Essay

Podcasts and Zooms and Plays, Oh My!

Creating Non-Theatre

10 January 2022

Ezra Brain reflects on the unique process of creating and performing the new work Our Childhood Sucked and shares what the theatre community can learn from creating digital “non-theatre.”

The Future is Now
The Future Is Now: Conversations with Cannupa Hanska Luger and Qondiswa James
Podcast

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Cannupa Hanska Luger and Qondiswa James

8 November 2021

In these episodes of The Future Is Now, CEC Artslink invites cultural worker Qondiswa James and mixed media artist Cannupa Hanska Luger, two of Artslink’s Future Fellows, to discuss their artistic work, practices, and visions for the future.

artist sits with instrument.
Electric Gugak
Video

Electric Gugak

A Multi-Locational Live Concert which Features Performances from Seoul, New York City, and Los Angeles

Friday 5 November 2021
United States

La MaMa and CultureHub presented Electric Gugak livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 5 November 2021 at 6 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 8 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 9 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 10 a.m. KST (Seoul, UTC +9).

artist holding a sitar in front of an image of a galaxy.
Waves of Gravity
Video

Waves of Gravity

Through Raga, Polyphonic Overtone Singing, Experimental Music, Improvisational Flights of Fancy, and Spoken Word, Neel Murgai Creates a Psychedelic Universe of Sight and Sound

Thursday 21 October and Friday 22 October 2021
United States

La MaMa and CultureHub present Waves of Gravity livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 21 October and Friday 22 October 2021 at 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

A photo of a Zoom play with characters named Potential White Ally and Unapologetically Black Specialist with other people on screen for stage directions.
Two Hundred Digital Theatre Reviews and Counting
Essay

Two Hundred Digital Theatre Reviews and Counting

28 September 2021

When Ricky and Dana Young-Howze began reviewing digital theatre productions early in the COVID-19 pandemic, they weren’t expecting to build a tight-knit, global community. They share their journey into the digital theatre scene and reflect on what it has taught them.

A portrait of the guest Ivyon E. against a galaxy background with the Building Our Own Tables logo to the left.
Funding Accountability
Podcast

Funding Accountability

With Iyvon E. of The Parsnip Ship

1 September 2021

Yura Sapi sits down with Iyvon E., artistic director of The Parsnip Ship, a podcast play company that amplifies bold artists for audiences who crave accessible stories and storytellers.

A woman in a white dress with short hair dancing with an ensemble of other women and men behind her.
Open Channels: The Journey Begins/Canales Abiertos: La jornada comienza
Essay

Open Channels: The Journey Begins/Canales Abiertos: La jornada comienza

29 July 2021

Fátima De La Caridad Patterson Patterson, Mathew Schwarzman, and Carolina Caballero share their experience of creating Open Channels, an event where artists from thirteen countries gathered digitally to talk about Caribbean popular theatre.

Fátima De La Caridad Patterson Patterson, Mathew Schwarzman, y Carolina Caballero comparten sus experiencias creando Open Channels (Canales Abiertos), un evento donde artistas de trece países compartieron digitalmente para hablar del Teatro Popular Caribeño.

A woman drinking water and sitting down on a chair surrounded by other chairs and onstage "woods".
“Layers of Distance”: On Loop as a Pandemic Play
Essay

“Layers of Distance”: On Loop as a Pandemic Play

13 July 2021

Kate Purdum shares the challenges and successes of creating a hybrid virtual and in-person production of On Loop at Barnard College.

Creating New Mediums and Hustle Culture
Podcast

Creating New Mediums and Hustle Culture

With Parmida Ziaei of Seda Iranian Ensemble

7 July 2021

In this episode of Building Our Own Tables, host Yura Sapi discusses Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble, the first Iranian theatre company in Seattle, with co-founder Parmida Ziaei.

event poster for culturehub belgrade convening.
CultureHub Belgrade Convening
Video

CultureHub Belgrade Convening

Centering around the theme Solidarity: Digital Strategies for Creative Resilience

Thursday 1 July to Saturday 3 July 2021
Belgrade, Serbia

CultureHub presented the CultureHub Belgrade Convening livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Thursday 1 July to Saturday 3 July 2021.

actors in office attire perform with actor in green screen suit onstage.
Tilos az abadság - F* Ree Artists / New Year's Eve Revue
Video

Tilos az abadság - F* Ree Artists / New Year's Eve Revue

GHOST HOURS OF FREE ART livestreaming from the glorious halls of the Hungarian Metal Workers' Union in Budapest

Thursday 24 June 2021
Hungary

TV Free Europe presented Tilos az abadság - F* Ree Artists / New Year's Eve Revue livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 24 June 2021 at 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 6 p.m. BST (London, UTC+1) / 19:00 CET (Budapest, UTC +2).

Illustration by Silent Fox, inspired by the essay.
When Theatre Will Become Fully Itself: Digital Supratheatre and the Fight for an Inclusive Future
Essay

When Theatre Will Become Fully Itself: Digital Supratheatre and the Fight for an Inclusive Future

Translated by Cecilia Laslo

25 May 2021

Mihaela Drăgan introduces digital supratheatre—a theatre of the future with two underlying principles: technological change and social change.

A map with two-faced performing arts symbols located within the US and in northwestern Europe.
Taking Rural Playwriting International
Essay

Taking Rural Playwriting International

20 May 2021

Jacob Juntunen shares how the MFA playwriting program at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale adapted their new play festival for the online world and how open-access software and streaming platforms helped students at the rural school transcend geography.

Image of group of people marching in streets in Malawi
What Is the Way Forward for Theatre in Malawi, During and After the Pandemic?
Essay

What Is the Way Forward for Theatre in Malawi, During and After the Pandemic?

4 May 2021

Misheck Mzumara looks at the way the COVID-19 pandemic has affected theatre in Malawi and thinks through what comes next.

six performers on a stage with watery blue silks
Learning from the Leaders
Essay

Learning from the Leaders

Deaf Theatre Innovations in the Time of COVID-19

3 May 2021

Luane Davis Haggerty shares successes, learnings, and innovations from the Deaf theatre community over the past year of pandemic performance.