Having a playwright-in-residence at a theatre or other organization can have huge benefits for the writer, the organization, and the community. Much of the content in this section is about or generated by participants in the National Playwright Residency Program, which HowlRound administers in partnership with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Don’t miss this series of conversations between playwrights in the program discussing what they’ve learned from being embedded within a theatre company.
The Latest
Video
A Haunting in the Chest
A Conversation About Southeast Asian Stories on the American Stage
Thursday 13 March 2025
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Video
Telling the Unheard
Lao, Hmong, and Ojibwe Playwrights on Centering Their Communities
Tuesday 18 February 2025
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Essay
Ancestor Stories and Community Care in Virginia Grise’s Rasgos Asiaticos
Herbert Siguenza, co-founder of the Latino performance troupe Culture Clash, talks about his unconventional writing path, his time working with the collective, and finding his unique voice.
The Importance of Difficult Conversations Between Collaborators
12 May 2019
Playwright Pearl Cleage reflects on the power of truth-telling to find common ground and discusses how Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA is working to confront the legacy of Southern racism.
Why I Cancelled a Workshop in Favor of a Two-Week Trip Through Rural Alaska
6 May 2019
Playwright Vera Starbard (Tlingit/Dena’ina) reflects on her journey through rural Alaskan Native communities to reawaken the ancestral spirit of her work, Native Pride (and Prejudice).
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.
Professor Matthew McMahan talks about the importance of understanding comedy’s theatrical history: how it has evolved, what it says about a society, and why the genre shouldn’t be forgotten in the American theatre.
HowlRound at Emerson College in Boston presented a conversation with performance artist Taylor Mac, HERE Arts Center Artistic Director Kristin Marting, and designer Machine Dazzle livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 26 January 2018 at 4:30 p.m. EST (Boston) / 3:30 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 1:30 p.m. PST (San Francisco) / 21:30 GMT (London, UTC +0).
Director Ralph Peña writes about the importance of beginning every project from a place of inclusion, rather than relying on retroactive "diversity initiatives."
HowlRound Theatre Commons presented a conversation about the National Playwright Residency Program livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 27 March at 11:15 a.m. EST (Boston) / 10:15 a.m. CST (Chicago) / 8:15 a.m. PST (San Francisco).
Alexis Frasz and Holly Sidford assess the first round of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's National Playwright Residency Program, co-administered by HowlRound.
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.
Playwright Melinda Lopez and Charles Haugland discuss the ins and outs of the Huntington Theatre Company’s Playwriting Fellows program, and how it can serve as a model for other companies looking to fill a need in their communities.
Lisa Timmel, Local Playwrights, and Radical Hospitality
24 June 2017
Huntington Theatre Playwright in Residence Melinda Lopez talks with Director of New Work Lisa Timmel about the company’s new play development program and practicing generosity.
