Pennsylvania

The Latest

The Soul Work of Theatre with Sharia Benn

Podcast

The Soul Work of Theatre with Sharia Benn

by Yura Sapi, Sharia Benn

16 May 2024

On Theatre, Home, and Housing 

Essay

On Theatre, Home, and Housing

by Jan Cohen-Cruz

16 January 2024

The Fourth Black Spatial Relics Convening

Video

The Fourth Black Spatial Relics Convening

A Constellation of Artist Talks, Ceremonies, a Digital Performance Showcase, and Varied Conjures/Facilitations on Black Virtuosic Hope-Building

Thursday 27 July - Sunday 30 July 2023

Philadelphia, PA

A promotional graphic for Building Our Own Tables.

The Soul Work of Theatre with Sharia Benn

Podcast

The Soul Work of Theatre with Sharia Benn

16 May 2024

Join us on a journey with Sharia Benn, founder of Sankofa African American Theatre Company, as she shares her inspiring origin story and the challenges of fostering representation in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's theatre scene. Delve into the challenges of representation, the soul work of theatre, and the transformative impact of art in shaping communities. Join us for a compelling exploration of identity, equity, and the art of social change.

An art project of composed of quotes pasted onto a large board.

On Theatre, Home, and Housing 

Jan

Cohen-Cruz

Essay

On Theatre, Home, and Housing

16 January 2024

Jan Cohen-Cruz delves into the process of bringing The Most Beautiful Home… Maybe, a multi-city project that aims to use art to influence how people think about housing, to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. Through this process, Jan saw how theatre can bring together housing advocates from different walks of life to find their commonalities and collectively imagine a world with equitable housing for all.

event poster for the 4th Black Spatial Relics Convening.

The Fourth Black Spatial Relics Convening

Black Spatial Relics

Video

The Fourth Black Spatial Relics Convening

A Constellation of Artist Talks, Ceremonies, a Digital Performance Showcase, and Varied Conjures/Facilitations on Black Virtuosic Hope-Building

Thursday 27 July - Sunday 30 July 2023

Philadelphia, PA

Highlighting sacred local cultural institutions including the Colored Girls Museum, the Discovery Center, and a ritual tour across the city of Philadelphia, this gathering is a space for a stirring up of a new hope, inspired entirely by the study of our ancestral and living leaders who have built for themselves and their communities a daily practice of Black virtuosic hope.

Five performers, with one of them holding a baby, stand in a line on stage and hold a Ukrainian flag together.

How Slovo. Theater Group Fights for Ukraine on the Cultural Front

Audrey Rose

Dégez

Essay

How Slovo. Theater Group Fights for Ukraine on the Cultural Front

6 December 2022

Slovo. Theater Group uses theatre as a tool to fight against cultural oppression by promoting Ukrainian culture abroad. Audrey Rose, the group’s producer, discusses the process of making theatre during active war as a way of resisting oppression and violence.

BREAK/through Convening

Network of Ensemble Theaters

Video

BREAK/through Convening

A Participatory Experiment in Hybrid Community Convening Offered Online and in Philadelphia

Monday 25 July 2022

Philadelphia, PA

Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET) presented BREAK/through, a participatory experiment in hybrid community convening offered in Philadelphia and livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Monday 25 July 2022 from 7:30 a.m.-12 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. EDT (Philadelphia, UTC -4).

2022 TCG Conference in Pittsburgh event poster.

2022 TCG National Conference: Pittsburgh

TCG

Video

2022 TCG National Conference: Pittsburgh

Redefining Our Art. Transforming Our Practices. Tending to Our People.

Thursday 16 June to Saturday 18 June 2022

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) presented the 2022 TCG National Conference: Pittsburgh livestreaming on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network from Thursday 16 June to Saturday 18 June 2022.

three people posing for a photo in an ikea warehouse

Obvious Agency and Creative Cooperative Futures

Essay

Obvious Agency and Creative Cooperative Futures

15 March 2021

Arianna Gass and Daniel Park share their experience restructuring their company into a worker cooperative and what benefits this model offers.

Black Spatial Relics

Black Spatial Relics

Video

Black Spatial Relics

Celebrating and learning from the centuries-long Black freedom dialectic between the Caribbean and Philadelphia

Tuesday 23 February to Saturday 27 February 2021

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Black Spatial Relics presented their second annual convening livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Tuesday 23 February to Saturday 27 February 2021.

The Colombia Outside My Apartment / La Colombia afuera de mi apartamento

Carl(os)

Roa

Essay

The Colombia Outside My Apartment / La Colombia afuera de mi apartamento

What I Learned From the Quarantine / Lo que aprendí de la cuarentena

30 November 2020

In the intro article to the Colombia series, Carl(os) Roa, a Latinx artist from Philadelphia who made art in Bogotá last year, poses the question “What are the ways in which Colombia’s arts communities are just as fragmented as those in the United States” and shares how uplifting it has been to watch artists in the Bogotanx theatre community adapt to new realities brought on by the pandemic.

Anticolonial Creative Collaboration and the Development of Mirror Butterfly

Essay

Anticolonial Creative Collaboration and the Development of Mirror Butterfly

15 August 2019

Ben Barson and Gizelxanath Rodriguez, part of the Afro Yaqui Music Collective, talk about artivism—what it means, what it can look like—in relation to building a jazz opera with various communities around the world.

Pride Youth Theater Alliance flyer 2019 framed with colorful bubbles

A Performance by Dreams of Hope

Dreams of Hope

Pride Youth Theater Alliance

Video

A Performance by Dreams of Hope

at Pride Youth Theatre Alliance

Saturday 27 July 2019

Boston, MA

The Pride Youth Theater Alliance presented an expert from Chasing Elevation and other performances by members of Dreams of Hope’s theatriQ ensemble in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Saturday 27 July at 5:00 p.m. PDT (San Francisco) / 7:00 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 8:00 p.m. EDT (New York) / 24:00 UTC+0.

a group posing for a photo in a train station

The Aesthetic Fingerprint with Quinn Bauriedel of Pig Iron Theatre Company

Podcast

The Aesthetic Fingerprint with Quinn Bauriedel of Pig Iron Theatre Company

From the Ground Up Episode #12

1 July 2019

In episode twelve of the From the Ground Up Podcast, Jeffrey Mosser talks to Pig Iron Theatre Company co-founder and co-artistic director Quinn Bauriedel about the history and future of the company, which is celebrating its twenty-fifth year.

a group of people with their hands raised

Hearing Each Other Over the Gun Fire

Parker-Young

Essay

Hearing Each Other Over the Gun Fire

24 June 2019

Several months after Pittsburgh’s Quantam Theatre programmed The Gun Show, there was a mass shooting at a synagogue in the city. TJ Parker discusses how the company responded to the crisis, both through the play and through community engagement.

A Look into Theatre’s FutVRe

Carley B.

Johnson

Essay

A Look into Theatre’s FutVRe

18 April 2019

Carley B. Johnson examines two recent projects that link theatre with virtual reality and augmented reality.

The National Performance Network 2018 Annual Conference

National Performance Network

Video

The National Performance Network 2018 Annual Conference

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Friday 14 December to Sunday 16 December 2018

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The National Performance Network presented their Annual Conference 2018 livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Friday-Sunday 14-16 December.

A Lover’s Guide to American Playwrights

Todd

London

Essay

A Lover’s Guide to American Playwrights

Quiara Alegría Hudes

30 October 2018

In this installation of A Lover's Guide to American Playwrights, Todd London celebrates Quiara Alegría Hudes.

A Non-Binary Awakening in Philadelphia

Pax

Ressler

Essay

A Non-Binary Awakening in Philadelphia

12 September 2018

Pax Ressler looks at both the successes and challenges for non-binary theatre artists in Philadelphia.

Economic Precarity and Resiliency in Theatre

Caridad

Svich

Essay

Economic Precarity and Resiliency in Theatre

an American Psalm

29 August 2018

Playwright Caridad Svich reflects on the economic reality of working in theatre.

The City of Brotherly Love Presents

Amelia

Parenteau

Essay

The City of Brotherly Love Presents

The Empathy Project

12 July 2018

Amelia Parenteau explores the value of bringing theatre and the humanities into the medical field through the collaboration between Philadelphia’s Lantern Theater Company and the Sidney Kimmel Medical College.

Representation Matters

Gab

Cody

Essay

Representation Matters

The Monologue Project

8 April 2018

Gab Cody reflects on the birth of The Monologue Project, an initiative that started in Pittsburgh, USA and Dallas, USA to increase the canon of audition-length monologues for women of African Descent.

Theatre History Podcast #55

Podcast

Theatre History Podcast #55

Examining the Controversial History of the “Mummers Wench” with Dr. Christian DuComb

24 January 2018

Dr. Christian DuComb of Colgate University joins us to talk about Philadelphia's Mummers Parade and how the figure of the "Mummers wench" has its roots in the history of blackface minstrel shows.

Re-Defining Motherhood and Advocating for Parent Artists

Rachel Spencer

Hewitt

Essay

Re-Defining Motherhood and Advocating for Parent Artists

10 December 2017

Rachel Spencer Hewitt, PAAL founder, kicks off the parent advocacy in the arts series with an overview of the history of PAAL and a rationale for family-friendly practices in the theatre.

Invitation to Interpret

Essay

Invitation to Interpret

An Audience Makes Meaning Together

29 May 2017

What can we learn about audience engagement and how and why audiences make meaning out of experimental theatre from a twenty-four-year performance experiment?

Fish Soup, Mourning, and Hope at the End of the World

Walter

Bilderback

Essay

Fish Soup, Mourning, and Hope at the End of the World

18 April 2017

Dramaturg Walter Bilderback writes about the production of and audience engagement around Andrew Bovell's When the Rain Stops Falling at the Wilma Theater.

Universal Design in Emergency Planning presentation 

Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council

Video

Universal Design in Emergency Planning presentation

Thursday 23 March 2017

Pittsburgh, PA, United States

The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council presented Universal Design in Emergency Planning, a presentation on the importance of creating emergency plans that both satisfy your legal obligations and truly serve people with disabilities and other functional needs, livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 23 March at 10 a.m. EST (Pittsburgh), 9 a.m. CST (Chicago), 7 a.m. PST (Los Angeles).

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