Howlround Theater Commons Home Page

Social Justice & Political Theatre

Content here focuses on theatremakers, companies, and projects with a political or social justice mission.

The Latest

Livestreaming a Conversation: Introducing a New Ongoing Virtual Series: Healing Over Hate
Video

Livestreaming a Conversation: Introducing a New Ongoing Virtual Series: Healing Over Hate

Responding to the Rise of Anti-Asian Violence

Monday 12 April 2021
United States
Livestreaming a Conversation: Narrative Power, Cultural Strategies, and New Civic Vision
Video

Livestreaming a Conversation: 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
Puppets in Protest
Essay

Puppets in Protest

by Sarah Plummer
6 April 2021
actors on stage looking at a newspaper.
Livestreaming a Conversation: Introducing a New Ongoing Virtual Series: Healing Over Hate
CAATA
Generic Ensemble Company
Perseverance
Theatre
Video

Livestreaming a Conversation: 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) introduces 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.
Livestreaming a Conversation: Narrative Power, Cultural Strategies, and New Civic Vision
arts & democracy
Arts & Democracy
NOCD NY
Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts NY (NOCD-NY)
Video

Livestreaming a Conversation: 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) present 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
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
bezna theatre black text
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).

Canceled: A Crisis in Burma: Artists Respond
CultureHub Logo
CultureHub
La MaMa Logo
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
National Theatre Ghent logo.
NTGent
Video

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

Destruction as a tool for survival

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).

Glod: Political Theatre as a Civil Right event poster.
Corp Urban by Giuvlipen
bezna theatre black text
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).

artists sitting on chairs in a circle
The Living Presence of Our History: Part III
Double Edge Theatre
text: Ohketeau above a drawing of a flower.
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).

four actors posing for a photo
Beneath the Shadow of the Freeway
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 a Civil Right event poster.
GLOD: Political Theatre as Womxn's Right
bezna theatre black text
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).

zoom video chat of several people
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
black box with black text IIPM
IIPM
National Theatre Ghent logo.
NTGent
akademie der kunste
Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Video

School of Resistance

A film and discussion series

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.

text one love on black background
One Love: A Racial Justice Theatre Workshop with Dr. Ayshia
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).

an actor kneeling onstage
A Summer on Fire, a Harvest Moon
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
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.

zoom screenshot
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.

Glod: Political Theatre as a Civil Right event poster.
Freedom Theatre’s Return to Palestine
bezna theatre black text
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).

four actors onstage
There’s an Array of Theatrical Talent on Display in Kosovo. So Why Won’t Its Government Support It Properly?
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
National Theatre Ghent logo.
NTGent
Video

School of Resistance, Episode Twelve: Politics of Interdependence

What would a truly caring world look like?

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).

Green New Theater Part 6: Immediate Divestment from Fossil Fuels
Groundwater Arts
Video

Green New Theater Part 6: Immediate Divestment from Fossil Fuels

Y'all, we gotta stop it

Wednesday 13 January 2021
United States

Groundwater Arts presented Green New Theater Part 7: Immediate Divestment from Fossil Fuels (ASL-interpreted) livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 13 January 2021 at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) 5 p.m. MST (Colorado, UTC -7) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

performers on stage dancing.
Arts & Healing: Bangsokol Virtual Festival
Cambodian Living Arts
ArtsEmerson
Video

Arts & Healing: Bangsokol Virtual Festival

Seeking to honor victims of violence and explore the healing, hope and resilience of survivors

Monday 14 December to Wednesday 16 December 2020
United States

ArtsEmerson presented two conversations from Arts & Healing: Bangsokol Virtual Festival livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 14 December and Wednesday 16 December 2020.

The Inciting Incident: Art Activism, Social Justice, and Youth Theatre after COVID
Map of the United States overlaid with the text enough, plays to end gun violence.
#ENOUGH
Video

The Inciting Incident: Art Activism, Social Justice, and Youth Theatre after COVID

Panel Discussion with Hallie Gordon, Barbara Pitts McAdams, Michael Rohd, and Willa Taylor

Tuesday 15 December 2020
United States

#ENOUGH presented The Inciting Incident: Art Activism, Social Justice, and Youth Theatre after COVID livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 15 December 2020 at 12 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 2 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 3 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).