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Political Theatre

Content here focuses on theatremakers, companies, and projects engaging with politics and political action. A great example of the power of this work is the video series Political Theatre as a Civil Right from the British-Romanian political theatre company BÉZNĂ Theatre.

The Latest

Creating Work in Series in the Anthropocene
Essay
Creating Work in Series in the Anthropocene
by Chantal Bilodeau
22 April 2024
Viewpoints for Achieving Authentic Representation of Roma Communities on Stage
Essay
Viewpoints for Achieving Authentic Representation of Roma Communities on Stage
by Tímea Éva Bogya, Márton Illés
27 March 2024
Should We Write Differently About Roma Theatre?
Essay
Should We Write Differently About Roma Theatre?
by Noémi Herczog, Éva Moharos
25 March 2024
Six people dressed in fake soldier uniforms protest the war with a banner.
There Was Some Contemporary Culture Left in Russia. Then Putin Started a War.
Essay

There Was Some Contemporary Culture Left in Russia. Then Putin Started a War.

4 April 2022

Russian theatremaker Viktor Vilisov details the rapidly dwindling infrastructure for free expression in Russian culture in a time of war. As theatres and theatre workers navigate the deterioration of their sector, elements of performance persist in anti-war protests and state political messaging alike.

event poster for Tonight my Heartbeat is Uneven:  Artists Respond to the War in Ukraine Tonight my Heartbeat is Uneven Artists Respond to the War in Ukraine.
Tonight my Heartbeat is Uneven
Video

Tonight my Heartbeat is Uneven

Artists Respond to the War in Ukraine

Wednesday 30 March 2022
United States

Arlekin Players Theatre presented Tonight my Heartbeat is Uneven: Artists Respond to the War in Ukraine livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Wednesday 30 March 2022 at 10 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 5 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +0) / 7 p.m. EET (Kyiv, UTC +2).

event poster for talleres for dreaming episode 3.
Artists are the Vanguard of Revolution
Video

Artists are the Vanguard of Revolution

An Artist Talk by Kristiana Rae Colón

Tuesday 22 March 2022
United States

Cara Mía Theatre’s Mellon Playwright in Residence Virginia Grise presented Talleres for Dreaming: Episode 3 livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Tuesday 22 March 2022 at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

SEGAL TALKS with Maria Bruni and Golenko Maxim Georgievich (Ukraine)
Video

SEGAL TALKS with Maria Bruni and Golenko Maxim Georgievich (Ukraine)

Join us for an urgent conversation with Ukrainian theatre artists Maria Bruni and Golenko Maxim Georgievich

Friday 18 March 2022
United States

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented SEGAL TALKS, a conversation about curating, producing, and presenting theatre and performance in the time of COVID with Maria Bruni and Golenko Maxim Georgievich (Ukraine), livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Friday 18 March 2022 at 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 4 p.m. GMT (UTC +0) / 6 p.m. EET (UTC +2).

portrait of the artist wearing a tophat and looking through a monacle.
Coffeehouse Chronicles #162 with Penny Arcade
Video

Coffeehouse Chronicles #162 with Penny Arcade

Part Artist-Portrait, Part History Lesson, and Part Community Forum, Coffeehouse Chronicles Takes an Intimate Look at the Development of Downtown Theatre in New York City

Saturday 5 March 2022
United States

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club presented Coffeehouse Chronicles #162 with Penny Arcade livestreaming on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv livestreaming on Saturday 5 March 2022 at 12 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 2 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 3 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

event poster for school of resistance right to regularisation.
School of Resistance: Right to Regularization
Video

School of Resistance: Right to Regularization

Raising the Voice of Undocumented Refugees in Belgium and Europe

Friday 4 March - Saturday 5 March 2022
Ghent, Belgium

IIPM and NTGent presented School of Resistance: Right to Regularization livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 4 March and Saturday 5 March 2022.

An audience sits in a dark red theatre, watching actors in costume perform.
Freedom and Theatre: An International Meditation
Essay

Freedom and Theatre: An International Meditation

24 February 2022

Producing artistic director Kellie Mecleary shares her experience participating in Vaba Lava Narva Theatre Centre’s first International Freedom Theatre Festival in Estonia.

event poster for safe havens freedom talk the power of art event.
The Power of Art
Video

The Power of Art

To Create and to Oppose: People Will Not Listen to Politicians, but They Will Listen to Artists

Friday 4 February 2022
Norway

Safe Havens Freedom Talks presented a conversation on The Power of Art livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 4 February 2022 at 8:30 a.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 14:30 CET (Oslo, UTC +1).

School of Resistance: Pitfalls of Representation: Assemblies in Theatre
Video

School of Resistance: Pitfalls of Representation: Assemblies in Theatre

Looking at the Often Productive, Often Ambivalent Relationship Between Art and Activism

Saturday 29 January 2022
Ghent, Belgium

NTGent presented School of Resistance, Pitfalls of Representation: Assemblies in Theatre livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday January 29 2022 at 10 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 19:00 CET (Ghent, UTC +1).

Several performers with large puppets standing in a field.
Ground Lessons: Performing with the Potato People at Bread and Puppet
Essay

Ground Lessons: Performing with the Potato People at Bread and Puppet

26 January 2022

Denise Rogers Valenzuela shares the way that learning to perform improvised crowd scenes with large, flat puppets—called naked population puppets or potato people—encourages an embodied practice that resists individualism.

Close on the faces of  three actors staring into the camera.
The Fight for the Right to Vote
Essay

The Fight for the Right to Vote

13 January 2022

Carlyle Brown’s Down in Mississippi is a celebration of a movement that gave birth to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Brown sat down with Todd London in October 2020 to discuss the creative process, historical context, and contemporary resonance of his play.

Poster for Addressless.
A Conversation About the Making of Addressless
Video

A Conversation About the Making of Addressless

An interactive theatrical game about housing insecurity

Tuesday 11 January 2022
United States

Rattlestick and Center for International Theatre Development presented a conversation about the making of Addressless livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network Tuesday 11 January 2022 at 12 p.m. PST (Los Angeles, UTC -8) / 2 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 3 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 20:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 21:00 CET (Budapest, UTC +1).

Several people dancing together in a room.
Thinking Through Racism: Nigerian Theatre’s Response
Essay

Thinking Through Racism: Nigerian Theatre’s Response

11 January 2022

Eseovwe Emakunu sits down with theatre practitioner Israel Wekpe to discuss how he and other Nigerian theatre artists use theatre to address racism and discrimination.

event poster for school of resistance: Art in conflicted areas.
School of Resistance: Practices from Euromaidan to Belarus / Art in Conflicted Areas
Video

School of Resistance: Practices from Euromaidan to Belarus / Art in Conflicted Areas

Conversations questioning civil and artistic practices of resistance.

Friday 17 December 2021
Munich, Germany

IIPM and NTGent in collaboration with the Münchner Kammerspiele presented School of Resistance: Practices from Euromaidan to Belarus / Art in conflicted areas livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 17 December 2021 at 8 a.m. PST (Los Angeles, UTC-8) / 11 a.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 16:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 17:00 CET (Munich, UTC +1) / 18:00 EET (Kyiv, UTC +2).

event poster for segal talks with Avra Sidiropoulou  (Greece) and Frank M. Raddatz (Germany).
SEGAL TALKS: Avra Sidiropoulou (Greece) and Frank M. Raddatz (Germany)
Video

SEGAL TALKS: Avra Sidiropoulou (Greece) and Frank M. Raddatz (Germany)

A conversation with Avra Sidiropoulou (Greece) and Frank M. Raddatz (Germany) about Sidiropoulou ’s new book: Staging 21st century Tragedies. Theatre, Politics and Global Crisis

Wednesday 15 December 2021
Greece

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented SEGAL TALKS, a conversation about curating, producing, and presenting theatre and performance in the time of COVID with Avra Sidiropoulou (Greece) and Frank M. Raddatz (Germany), livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Wednesday 15 December 2021 at 9 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 11 a.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 17:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 18:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1).

Roma Theatre Retrospective Logo
Roma Theatre Retrospective 2021
Video

Roma Theatre Retrospective 2021

Celebrating Four Years of Contemporary, International Romani Theatre

Tuesday 19 October to Friday 10 December 2021
Worldwide

Independent Theater Hungary in partnership with HowlRound Theatre Commons presented the Roma Theatre Retrospective 2021 which included forty livestreams of twenty shows and twenty interviews from Romani artists in ten countries who were featured during four editions of the Roma Heroes International Theater Festival, Budapest. Livestreaming on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network Tuesday 19 October to Friday 10 December 2021.

event poster for freedom talk at artistic freedom initiative.
Freedom Talk @ Artistic Freedom Initiative
Video

Freedom Talk @ Artistic Freedom Initiative

Focusing on Indigenous People's Artistic Rights from a Legal Perspective

Tuesday 23 November 2021
United States

Safe Havens Freedom Talks presented a conversation focusing on Indigenous people's artistic rights from a legal perspective livestreaming on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Tuesday 23 November 2021.

stick figure drawing representing future artists in solidarity.
ArtsLink Assembly 2021: Future Fellows
Video

ArtsLink Assembly 2021: Future Fellows

An Annual Convening of Transnational Artists, Thinkers, and Activists Working with Culture to Create a Better World

Friday 19 November 2021
New York City

Building on last year’s theme of resilience and community engagement, ArtsLink Assembly 2021 focused on the artists and arts leaders, the Future Fellows, creating new networks and structures locally and transnationally to support independent artists in a post-pandemic world. Livestreamed on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network Friday 19 November 2021.

Giant puppet carried by a group of people outside in front of a mountain.
SEGAL TALKS: Basil Jones (South Africa)
Video

SEGAL TALKS: Basil Jones (South Africa)

A Conversation about The Walk.

Wednesday 17 November 2021
Virtual

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented SEGAL TALKS, about curating, producing and presenting theatre and performance in the time of corona with Basil Jones (South Africa), livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Wednesday 17 November 2021 at 9 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 11 a.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 17:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 18:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1).

Performer with puppet.
Roma Heroes, Superpowers, and Human Agency: Exploring Taboo Topics in Independent Theater Hungary’s Festivals
Essay

Roma Heroes, Superpowers, and Human Agency: Exploring Taboo Topics in Independent Theater Hungary’s Festivals

11 November 2021

Pulling from works in the Independent Theater Hungary’s annual Roma Heroes International Theatre Festival, Rosamaria Kostic Cisneros discusses the ways that festival artists created and staged nuanced depictions of Roma life. Cisneros highlights several of these plays and pays particular attention to their representations of potentially taboo material.

The Future is Now
The Future Is Now: Conversations with Selma Banich and Fatin Farhat
Podcast

The Future Is Now: Conversations with Selma Banich and Fatin Farhat

10 November 2021

In these episodes of The Future Is Now, CEC Artslink invites two of their Future Fellows, artist and activist Selma Banich and freelance cultural manager Fatin Farhat, to discuss how they envision the future of arts practice.

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.

A woman holding a white scarf over her head.
Roma Women on the Way to Self-Realization
Essay

Roma Women on the Way to Self-Realization

Performance Excerpts from the Last Four Years of the Roma Heroes International Theater Festival

4 November 2021

János Róbert Orsós reflects on the representation of Roma women in the plays presented during the past four years of the Independent Theater Hungary’s Roma Heroes International Theater Fesitval.

event poster for voices of afghanistan.
The Voices of Afghanistan
Video

The Voices of Afghanistan

A Verbatim Theatre Piece from the LA Writers Center

Friday 29 October 2021
Los Angeles, California

LA Writers Center interviewed Afghan and Afghan-American citizens about the situation in their homeland and how it has effected their lives and the lives of their loved ones. We consider this a call to action, and we are eager to share these voices with you. Livestreamed on the commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Friday 29 October 2021.

A woman holding a protest sign
Roma Identity: From Stigmatization to Reconstruction
Essay

Roma Identity: From Stigmatization to Reconstruction

28 October 2021

Luiza Medeleanu discusses the importance and impact of Roma representation through her analysis of four Roma social plays.