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.
Focusing on the Situation of Artistic Freedom and Public Art in Turkey
Tuesday 14 June 2022
Turkey
Safe Havens Freedom Talks presented a Safe Havens conversation at Speak Up livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 14 June 2022 at 8:30 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -7) / 12:30 p.m. UTC / 2:30 p.m. CEST (Stockholm, UTC +2) / 3:30 p.m. TRT (Istanbul, UTC +3).
Gathering Ground Theatre—an Austin, Texas collective comprised of people with lived experiences of homelessness and allies—creates performances that aim to influence public opinion and local legislation. Anna Rogelio Joaquin sits down with Lisa Hoelscher to discuss Lisa’s experience as a co-creator and performer of works that expose issues like hostile architecture and camping bans, as well as the company’s current work on a memorial performance.
In 2021, Nigerian director Josephine Awele Odunze directed a powerful production of Wedlock of the Gods by Zulu Sofola. Odunze sits down with Eseovwe Emakunu to discuss the play’s connections to issues Nigerian women face today, as well as her hopes that theatre can contribute to attaining true gender parity in Nigeria.
Urbicide and Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Bamiyan
Thursday 12 May 2022
Afghanistan
Safe Havens Freedom Talks presented a conversation Destroying History: Urbicide and Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Bamiyan in Afghanistan livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 12 May 2022 at 8:30 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -7) / 12:30 p.m. UTC / 2:30 p.m. CEST (Stockholm, UTC +2) / 5 p.m. AFT (Kabul, UTC +4:30).
Productions, Readings, Discussions, and Workshops Focusing on Climate Change, Immigration, and Indigeneity
Wednesday 4 May to Saturday 7 May 2022
United States
The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. presented The Gathering, livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Wednesday 4 May to Saturday 7 May 2022.
Problematising the Mainstream Discourse on Gender Analysis in Afghanistan
Wednesday 4 May 2022
Afghanistan
Safe Havens Freedom Talks presented a conversation Intersectionality Matters: Problematising the Mainstream Discourse on Gender Analysis in Afghanistan livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 4 May 2022 at 8:30 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -7) / 12:30 p.m. UTC / 2:30 p.m. CEST (Stockholm, UTC +2) / 5 p.m. AFT (Kabul, UTC +4:30).
Site-specific performances have the possibility to truly make all the world a stage. To produce site-specific and devised theatre performances in the United States and abroad, artists must engage with the questions of the politics of any space, what communities inhabit or use it, and who is invited into it. Sahar Assaf, a Lebanese theatremaker and the new artistic director of Golden Thread Productions, and Zeina Daccache, an actor, director, and the founder of Catharsis: Lebanese Center for Drama Therapy come together to talk about site-specific and devised theatre pieces in Lebanon, the rest of the MENA world, and the United States.
A 12-hour online marathon of readings and conversations with 24 New York theatre institutions
Saturday 16 April 2022
New York City
The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented New York Theatre Artists for Ukraine: A 12-hour online marathon of readings and conversations with 24 New York theatre institutions livestreaming on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 16 April 2022 at 7 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 10 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 5 p.m. EEST (Kyiv, UTC +3).
Theatre is a powerful tool for political and community advocacy efforts. From the stage to the streets, theatre can illuminate underheard narratives, reveal different perspectives on political events, and humanize the struggles of groups. There is a long history of theatre as a tool for advocacy in the Palestinian community in the US and abroad. In this episode, we talk to two Palestinian writers and theatremakers who have been using the art form as a way to bring awareness to the conflict in Palestine, give audiences with concrete tools for change, and provide direct relief to Palestinians internationally.
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.
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).
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).
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).
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).
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.
Producing artistic director Kellie Mecleary shares her experience participating in Vaba Lava Narva Theatre Centre’s first International Freedom Theatre Festival in Estonia.
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).
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).
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.
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.
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).
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.
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).
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).
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.
