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Organizational Models

There are many different kinds of theatre organizations, and content in this section explores the diversity of models. Dive in with essays on shared leadership and restructuring a company as a worker’s cooperative.

The Latest

Towards a Sustainable Theatre Model
Essay
Towards a Sustainable Theatre Model
by Scott Walters, Munroe Shearer
27 February 2024
That Which We Call a Struggle: A Response to Ife Olujobi’s “$5000”
Essay
That Which We Call a Struggle: A Response to Ife Olujobi’s “$5000”
by Chris Myers
5 February 2024
How Pay As You Are Changed Theater Mu
Essay
How Pay As You Are Changed Theater Mu
by Lianna Matt McLernon, Wesley Mouri, Anh Thu Pham
27 November 2023
two doors and a wall with post-it notes and large paper notes
Drawing a Line
Essay

Drawing a Line

Addressing Sexual Harassment in our Theatre Communities

17 July 2019

Dawn M. Simmons, John Meredith, and Jen Lewis, from New England’s StageSource, discuss where progress needs to happen to address harassment in the theatre industry.

a screen shot
Nothing is an Answer, Everything is a Signal
Essay

Nothing is an Answer, Everything is a Signal

On NYC’s the Shed and the Institution of Novelty

15 July 2019

Zach Donovan discusses how the Shed—the state-of-the-art arts complex in New York City’s recent real estate development, Hudson Yards—has become a point of contention in the downtown theatre community.

a colorful mural that says community
So You Want to Move to the Developing Neighborhood?
Essay

So You Want to Move to the Developing Neighborhood?

25 June 2019

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.

joe haj and rob melrose
“Who are you when scared?”
Essay

“Who are you when scared?”

Confidence, Fearlessness, and Artistic Direction

23 June 2019

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.

two actors onstage
Freedom and Silence
Essay

Freedom and Silence

Theatre Programming in Chile

21 May 2019

Pamela López and Andrés Kalawski talk about the research they have done around theatre programmers in Chile.

a group of people
How to Model a Healthier Professional Culture That Benefits Marginalized Artists and Administrators
Essay

How to Model a Healthier Professional Culture That Benefits Marginalized Artists and Administrators

1 May 2019

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

Thousands of airplane icons covering the continents and oceans on a 2-D map of the world.
What’s Your Vision for a Post-Carbon Arts Sector?
Essay

What’s Your Vision for a Post-Carbon Arts Sector?

17 April 2019

Within the context of the new emergency climate change deadline of 2030, Vijay Mathew encourages the nonprofit arts sector to completely divest from fossil fuels by no longer using air travel for conferences, shows, or any other programming while offering models and solutions to help our thinking about transitioning to a post-carbon arts future.

three concentric circles with the text "why" "how" and "what"
Now What?
Essay

Now What?

Finding the "Why" in a Leadership Transition

14 April 2019

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

a table with a scone, coffee, and spilled coffee beans
Buy a Scone, Feed a Playwright
Essay

Buy a Scone, Feed a Playwright

9 April 2019

Mora V. Harris offers suggestions for what organizations can do if they can’t afford the travel costs associated with bringing an artist from out of town.

group in a circle
Harm Reduction in the Storefront Theatre Community
Essay

Harm Reduction in the Storefront Theatre Community

27 February 2019

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.

David Howse, Judith Batty, and Reginald Browne
Beginning to Walk the Walk
Essay

Beginning to Walk the Walk

David Howse in Conversation with Judith Batty and Reggie Browne

20 January 2019

David Howse, ArtsEmerson’s executive director, talks to two board chairs, Judith Batty of Arena Stage and Reggie Browne of McCarter Theatre, about diversifying audiences, philanthropy and fundraising, intern programs to cultivate new talent, and more.

What If
Essay

What If

The JUBILEE’s Vision of Unity and Action

24 October 2018

Rachel Grossman and Kirk Lynn announce the JUBILEE, a year-long nationwide festival in 2020/20201 that asks companies to commit to producing a season of work by artists who have been traditionally excluded from the American theatre.

director giving an actor notes
Teach Them How to Say Goodbye
Essay

Teach Them How to Say Goodbye

Howard Shalwitz and Carey Perloff in Conversation

18 October 2018

Howard Shalwitz, co-founder of Woolly Mammoth, talks with Carey Perloff, longtime director of American Conservatory Theater, about their decades-long tenures at their respective companies, covering everything from the throughline of founding manifestos, to the five- to six-year cycles companies go through, to how lonely it is to be an artistic director, and more.

actors hugging onstage
Shifting Institutions, Shifting Audiences
Essay

Shifting Institutions, Shifting Audiences

Brendan Healy and May Antaki in Conversation

17 October 2018

May Antaki speaks with Brendan Healy, the new artistic director of Toronto’s Canadian Stage, about leadership changeovers happening across Canada, how his approach to being an AD has shifted over the years, his desire to cultivate curiosity inside audiences, and more.

A group of people sit in chairs in a circle
The Birth of a Theatre Commons
Essay

The Birth of a Theatre Commons

HowlRound from 2009-2017

3 October 2018

Alexis Frasz and Holly Sidford of Helicon Collaborative share the case study they wrote on HowlRound. Alexis and Holly believe HowlRound’s story is particularly resonant for this moment in time, and has potential to influence thinking and shift practice in the theatre sector and beyond. This essay shares a few thoughts on why they think HowlRound’s story matters in today’s political and economic context.

a set piece
The Charmed Life of Rezo Gabriadze
Essay

The Charmed Life of Rezo Gabriadze

Tbilisi’s Hottest Ticket

23 September 2018

Dominick DeGaetano takes us to Tbilisi, Georgia’s beloved marionette theatre, the Gabriadze, which was built and runs on the vision of single man, eighty-two-year-old Rezo Gabriadze.

Presentation on Equitable Workplaces: Operationalizing Your Values
Video

Presentation on Equitable Workplaces: Operationalizing Your Values

Fractured Atlas, hosted by ArtsBoston

Friday 14 September 2018
Boston, MA, United States

Fractured Atlas in partnership with ArtsBoston presented Operationalizing Your Values livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Boston on Friday 14 September 2018 at 10 a.m. EDT (New York) / 9 a.m. CDT (Chicago) / 7 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 20:00 UTC+0 / 9 p.m. BST (London).

two people sitting
We Need Theatre to Exist, and Maybe Research Can Prove Its Necessity
Essay

We Need Theatre to Exist, and Maybe Research Can Prove Its Necessity

26 June 2018

Theatre artist and educator Robert Ruffin explores the idea of theatre being necessary for human survival and the research that needs to be undertaken to prove it. 

two people embracing
Embracing the Canoe
Essay

Embracing the Canoe

How Does a Small Company Thrive?

17 June 2018

Olivia D’Ambrosio, Producing Artistic Director of Bridge Repertory Theater in Boston, Massachusetts discusses how the company's early ambitions led to challenges, and how they're learned to course-correct.

A Global Network That Protects and Defends Artists at Risk
Essay

A Global Network That Protects and Defends Artists at Risk

17 May 2018

Julie Trébault and Laura Kauer García discuss the work that Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) has been doing to connect, defend, and protect artists worldwide.

Dance in the Extreme Southwest of Europe / Dançar no extremo sudoeste da Europa
Essay

Dance in the Extreme Southwest of Europe / Dançar no extremo sudoeste da Europa

18 April 2018

Luísa Roubaud reflects on the history of Portuguese dance. /  Luísa Roubaud reflete sobre a história da dança portuguesa.

Towards Cultural Access and Participation in Portugal
Essay

Towards Cultural Access and Participation in Portugal

29 March 2018

Maria Vlachou, Executive Director of Acesso Cultura | Access Culture, a not-for-profit that promotes access to cultural participation in Portugal, writes about work being done in the country to break down structural and geographical barriers to arts and culture.

A Blueprint for Risk-Taking
Essay

A Blueprint for Risk-Taking

8 March 2018

Artistic Director Kristin Marting discusses how developmental programs can better meet the needs of artists and shares best practices from HERE’s multi-year artist residency program in New York City.

Photo from Blindfolded in the Bathroom with a Blood Orange.
Pop Theatre
Essay

Pop Theatre

Revitalizing and Reimagining a Dying Artform

12 February 2018

Zach Donovan addresses the shortcomings of nonprofit theatre, the glut of self production, and considers Pop Theatre as an alternative theatrical vehicle.

Networks and New Works
Essay

Networks and New Works

NNPN Turns Twenty

16 January 2018

On the twentieth anniversary of its founding, Nan Barnett reflects on the National New Play Network’s growth, and discusses the organization’s impact.