Howlround Theater Commons Home Page

Physical Theatre

Physical theatre is a genre of performance that relies on movement more heavily than text. You can watch a performance of Oranges and Stones, a play without words from Ashtar Theatre, or read about the 2015 controversy over Synetic Theater’s physical theatre productions of Shakespeare’s work.

The Latest

MASTER-LESS
Video
MASTER-LESS
Episode 9: Women Teaching Physical Theatre
Thursday 3 June 2021
South Africa
Unrehearsed Futures: Serious Play
Video
Unrehearsed Futures: Serious Play
Towards Decolonizing Physical Theatre Pedagogies
Thursday 13 May 2021
South Africa
Theatre, Clown, and Physical Comedy… Online?
Essay
Theatre, Clown, and Physical Comedy… Online?
by Charlie Peters
17 August 2020
event poster with text details for unrehearsed futures episode nine.
MASTER-LESS
Embodied Poetics logo
Embodied Poetics
Drama School Mumbai logo
Drama School Mumbai
Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies, Cape Town, logo
CTDPS, Cape Town
Video

MASTER-LESS

Episode 9: Women Teaching Physical Theatre

Thursday 3 June 2021
South Africa

Unrehearsed Futures: MASTER-LESS livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 3 June 2021 at 4 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 9 a.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 10 a.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2) / 1:30 p.m. IST (Mumbai, UTC +5:30) / 6 p.m. AEST (Hobart, UTC +10).

event poster with text for episode 6 of unrehearsed futures.
Unrehearsed Futures: Serious Play
Drama School Mumbai logo
Drama School Mumbai
Embodied Poetics logo
Embodied Poetics
Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies, Cape Town, logo
CTDPS, Cape Town
Video

Unrehearsed Futures: Serious Play

Towards Decolonizing Physical Theatre Pedagogies

Thursday 13 May 2021
South Africa

Presenting Unrehearsed Futures: Serious Play livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Thursday 13 May 2021 at 4 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 9 a.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 10 a.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2) / 1:30 p.m. IST (Mumbai, UTC +5:30) / 6 p.m. AEST (Hobart, UTC +10).

Glod in red, a silhouette of a person with their arm raised.
Ashtar Theatre’s Oranges and Stones
bezna theatre black text
BÉZNĂ Theatre
ASHTAR Theatre
Video

Ashtar Theatre’s Oranges and Stones

A screening and discussion of a play without words that portrays the reality of persecution in Palestine

Monday 31 August 2020
International

Glod: Political Theatre as a Civil Right presented a screening and conversation on Ashtar Theatre’s Oranges and Stones livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 31 August 2020 at 10 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 6 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 8 p.m. EEST (Cluj, UTC +3).

a clown nose on a laptop
Theatre, Clown, and Physical Comedy… Online?
Essay

Theatre, Clown, and Physical Comedy… Online?

17 August 2020

Charlie Peters, who has spent the early days of the pandemic thinking about and experimenting with how physical comedy can (and can’t) live online, shares what he’s learned.

“We're Not Learning History...We're Living it"
Essay

“We're Not Learning History...We're Living it"

Underground Railroad Game and the Resurgence of the History Play

17 November 2016

Rosa Schneider reflects on history plays, history, and pedagogy in Undergound Railroad Game created by Jennifer Kidwell and Scott Sheppard with Lightning Rod Special playing at Ars Nova in New York City.

Interview with Thando Doni
Essay

Interview with Thando Doni

15 October 2016

In this last installment, Paul Adolphsen interviews South African theatremaker Thando Doni about his artistic use of language and physical theatre.

Performance of Gale Theatre Company’s Salomé 
The VORTEX
Video

Performance of Gale Theatre Company’s Salomé 

Friday 12 August 2016
Austin, TX, United States

Gale Theatre Company and The VORTEX in Austin, Texas presented Salomé, a new physical adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s one act tragedy livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Friday 12 August at 9 p.m. EDT (New York) / 8 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 6 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles). Share your thoughts on Twitter and Instagram with #howlround.

Physical Theatre and Public Policy Hooliganism
Essay

Physical Theatre and Public Policy Hooliganism

31 July 2015

Blair Ruble addresses the recent criticism of Synetic Theater’s artistic adaptations of Shakespeare. 

Exemplary Youth Theater in Albany Park Theatre Project’s God’s Work
Essay

Exemplary Youth Theater in Albany Park Theatre Project’s God’s Work

6 May 2014

Dani Snyder-Young writes about the Chicago-based Albany Park Theatre Project, a youth theatre ensemble. She reviews APTP's 2014 remounted production of God's Work, at the Goodman Theatre.

Photo from Forgiveness: A Theatrical Poem.
The Mystery of Forgiveness at the Modern Times Stage Company
Essay

The Mystery of Forgiveness at the Modern Times Stage Company

1 April 2014

Matt McGeachy writes about Modern Times Stage Company's Forgiveness: A Theatrical Poem, an intense movement piece exploring the dialetic between forgiveness and forgetting. 

Every Actor's Nightmare, Inverted
Essay

Every Actor's Nightmare, Inverted

21 November 2013

Acting is a physical function. It starts with the body. The body is the instrument. A theater without actors is not a theater; yet theater without words exists the world over.