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

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

How LUNG Is Breathing Radical Joy into Theatre in the United Kingdom

Essay

How LUNG Is Breathing Radical Joy into Theatre in the United Kingdom

by verity healey, Matt Woodhead, Helen Monks

5 March 2024

An illustration of two Black people with different hairstyles and outfits, surrounded by clouds and suns, against an orange and blue background.

Speculating Black Queer Futures

Stokely

Nkenna

Akunna

Essay

Speculating Black Queer Futures

27 April 2021

JD Stokely and Nkenna Akunna speculate about what a Black queer future looks like, speaking to sleep and rest, spirit, cyclical time, and more.

Several actors as prisoners, civilians, doctors and nurses in Bertolt Brecht's Fear and Misery of the Third Reich.

Towards a Marxist Theatre

Ezra

Brain

Essay

Towards a Marxist Theatre

15 April 2021

Ezra Brain argues that political theatre has largely been reduced to simply calling out the problems in society, effectively preaching to the choir, and believes that in order to save political theatre, it must be re-Marxed.

An image of six actors forming a semi circle around and actor standing on actors block , The actor on the block, is lifting food to their mouth with pained expression.

The Classical Theatre of the Oppressed

Fumbani Innot

Phiri

Essay

The Classical Theatre of the Oppressed

Adapting The Vagina Monologues in Malawi

13 April 2021

Fumbani Innot Phiri Jr. details the creative process of the production of The Vagina Monologues that took place during 16 Days of Activism in Malawi and offers his thoughts, as an audience member, on the show’s big impact.

Introducing a New Ongoing Virtual Series: Healing Over Hate

CAATA

Generic Ensemble Company

Perseverance

Theatre

Video

Introducing a New Ongoing Virtual Series: Healing Over Hate

Responding to the Rise of Anti-Asian Violence

Monday 12 April 2021

United States

Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) introduced a new ongoing virtual series: Healing Over Hate: Responding to the Rise of Anti-Asian Violence livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 12 April 2021 at 1 p.m. HDT (Honolulu, UTC -9), 3 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC -8), 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7), 5 p.m. MDT (Denver, UTC -6), 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5), 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

illustration of a black woman holding a book titled the tyrant fears the poet with caption text we are the future write our own liberation.

Narrative Power, Cultural Strategies, and New Civic Vision

Arts & Democracy

Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts NY (NOCD-NY)

Video

Narrative Power, Cultural Strategies, and New Civic Vision

A peer learning exchange about how stories, narrative and cultural power can help create a just and liberatory vision for the future

Monday 12 April 2021

United States

Arts & Democracy and Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts NY (NOCD-NY) presented the conversation Narrative Power, Cultural Strategies, and New Civic Vision livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 12 April 2021 at 2 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

protestors at the people's climate march

Puppets in Protest

Sarah

Plummer

Essay

Puppets in Protest

6 April 2021

Sarah Plummer discusses how puppets aid socially engaged groups during protests in three key ways: amplifying tension, creating accessible messaging, and evoking solidarity.

Glod: Political Theatre as a Civil Right event poster.

CRIME: A response to Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoievsky

BÉZNĂ Theatre

Video

CRIME: A response to Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoievsky

Performance followed by a panel discussion

Monday 5 April 2021

Romania

Glod: Political Theatre as a Civil Right presented CRIME: A response to Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoievsky livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 5 April 2021 at 10 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 6 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 20:00 EEST (Cluj, UTC +3).

illustration of hand with three fingers raised and barbed wire over the wrist.

Canceled: A Crisis in Burma: Artists Respond

CultureHub

La MaMa

Video

Canceled: A Crisis in Burma: Artists Respond

Join Burmese painter and performance artist Chaw Ei Thein in conversation on the current situation in Burma

Tuesday 30 March 2021

United States

Asian Cultural Council, CultureHub, La MaMa, and Theatre Without Borders/University of Iowa’s Theatre Arts Department present A Crisis in Burma: Artists Respond livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 30 March 2021 at 3 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 6 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / Wednesday 31 March 2021 at 4:30 a.m. MMT (Myanmar, UTC +6:30).

red banner with white text SCHOOL OF RESISTANCE above event detail text.

School of Resistance—Episode Thirteen: Blow the System, Sow Change

NTGent

Video

School of Resistance—Episode Thirteen: Blow the System, Sow Change

Destruction as a Tool for Survival with Authors Andreas Malm and Marian Donner

Thursday 25 March 2021

Ghent, Belgium

NTGent presented School of Resistance, Episode Thirteen: Blow the System, Sow Change livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 25 March 2021 at 11 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 18:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 19:00 CET (Brussels, UTC+1).

Corp Urban by Giuvlipen

BÉZNĂ Theatre

Video

Corp Urban by Giuvlipen

Performance followed by a panel discussion

Monday 22 March 2021

United Kingdom

Glod: Political Theatre as a Civil Right presented Corp Urban by Giuvlipen livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 22 March at 11 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 6 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +0) / 20:00 EET (Cluj, UTC +2).

The Living Presence of Our History: Part III

Double Edge Theatre

Ohketeau

Video

The Living Presence of Our History: Part III

Healing and reparations through the Land Back movement: a conversation on Indigenous land tenure, stewardship, and access

Sunday 21 March 2021

United States

Double Edge Theatre presented The Living Presence of Our History: Part III livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 21 March 2021 at 10 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Beneath the Shadow of the Freeway

Manuel

Muñoz

Essay

Beneath the Shadow of the Freeway

Virginia Grise’s Stage Adaptation of Helena Maria Viramontes’s Their Dogs Came with Them

17 March 2021

Manuel Muñoz reflects on Virginia Grise’s adaptation of Their Dogs Came with Them, which took place in fall 2019 under the colossal concrete freeway ramps of the I-10 freeway that dissect South Tucson from the edge of the Sonoran Desert.

GLOD: Political Theatre as Womxn's Right

BÉZNĂ Theatre

Video

GLOD: Political Theatre as Womxn's Right

Performance followed by a panel discussion

Monday 8 March 2021

United Kingdom

BÉZNĂ Theatre presented GLOD: Political Theatre as Womxn's Right livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 8 March at 10 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 6 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +0) / 8 p.m. EEST (Cluj, UTC +2).

Using Critical Fabulation for History-Based Playwriting

Essay

Using Critical Fabulation for History-Based Playwriting

3 March 2021

Holly Derr and Calley N. Anderson sit down to talk about how Calley adopted historian Saidiya Hartman’s theory of critical fabulation when writing her new play The Story and the Teller about the effect of the Memphis yellow fever epidemic of 1878 on African Americans and immigrants.

a bright yellow burst with the following words on individual lines: information, inspiration, invitation. then, "the ghostlight project"

Community Roll Call

The Ghostlight Project

Video

Community Roll Call

One part teach-in and one part pep rally to share the many organizing efforts happening in our community

Monday 1 March 2021

United States

The Ghostlight Project presented Community Roll Call livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 1 March 2021 at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

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.

School of Resistance: A Film and Discussion Series

IIPM

NTGent

Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Video

School of Resistance: A Film and Discussion Series

Examining the Conditions of Global Art Production in General and the Artistic Strategies of the IIPM In Particular.

Wednesday 24 February to Sunday 28 February

Belgium

NTGent presented Schol of Resistance: A film and discussion series livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Wednesday 24 February to Sunday 28 February 2021.

One Love: A Racial Justice Theatre Workshop with Dr. Ayshia

Dr. Ayshia

Mackie-Stephenson

Video

One Love: A Racial Justice Theatre Workshop with Dr. Ayshia

One Love pedagogy, a racial justice method for teaching and learning theatre

Monday 22 February 2021

United States

Dr. Ayshia Mackie-Stephenson presented One Love: A Racial Justice Theatre Workshop with Dr. Ayshia livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 22 February 2021 at 3 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 5 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 6 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

A Summer on Fire, a Harvest Moon

Caroline

Sprague

Essay

A Summer on Fire, a Harvest Moon

8 February 2021

Caroline Sprague reflects on Shey Rivera Ríos’s recent piece, Fire Flowers and a Time Machine, transformative justice, the nonprofit industrial complex, and more.

a group marching outside with a banner that reads "NEVER AGAIN IS NOW"

Inventing Worlds

Blair

Nodelman

Essay

Inventing Worlds

What Theatremakers Bring to Organizing

1 February 2021

Blair Nodelman discusses why theatremakers are well suited to deeply understanding the political machine and work toward dismantling the status quo, creating a more equitable and community-based iteration of governing.

episode five claudia alick calling up justice

Claudia Alick and Calling Up Justice

Podcast

Claudia Alick and Calling Up Justice

Building Our Own Tables Episode #5

27 January 2021

During this episode of Building Our Own Tables, podcast host Yura Sapi talks with Claudia Alick, founding executive producer of the transmedia social justice company Calling Up Justice.

Whose America and Whose Dreams?

Essay

Whose America and Whose Dreams?

26 January 2021

Zeina Salame sits down for a conversation with Leila Buck and Tamilla Woodard to talk about their most recent creative collaboration, American Dreams, online audience interaction, and more.

Freedom Theatre’s Return to Palestine

BÉZNĂ Theatre

Video

Freedom Theatre’s Return to Palestine

Performance followed by a panel discussion

Monday 25 January 2021

United Kingdom

Glod: Political Theatre as a Civil Right presented Freedom Theatre’s Return to Palestine livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 25 January at 10 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -54) / 6 p.m. GMT (London, UTC +0) / 8 p.m. EET (Cluj, UTC +2).

There’s an Array of Theatrical Talent on Display in Kosovo. So Why Won’t Its Government Support It Properly?

verity

healey

Essay

There’s an Array of Theatrical Talent on Display in Kosovo. So Why Won’t Its Government Support It Properly?

25 January 2021

verity healey, who spent time in Kosovo for its Theatre Showcase last October, discusses the precarious nature of Kosovo’s independent theatre sector and shares her thoughts about the plays she saw while visiting.

School of Resistance episode twelve poster.

School of Resistance—Episode Twelve: Politics of Interdependence

NTGent

Video

School of Resistance—Episode Twelve: Politics of Interdependence

What Would a Truly Caring World Look Like? With Edna Bonhomme and Anne Jung

Thursday 14 January 2021

Brussels, Belgium

What would a truly caring world look like? NTGent presents School of Resistance, Episode Twelve: Politics of Interdependence livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 14 January 2021 at 9 a.m. PST (Los Angeles, UTC -8) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 17:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 18:00 CET (Brussels, UTC+1) / 20:00 TRT (Istanbul, UTC +3).