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Street Theatre

Content in this section deals with street theatre, a form of performance in outdoor public spaces, often without a specific paying audience. Consider starting with L.M. Bogard’s piece on street-based clown performance.

The Latest

FRESH 2023
Video
FRESH 2023
The International Event for the Development of Contemporary Circus and Outdoor Arts
20-22 September 2023
Paris, France
Melding Spoken Word Poetry and Theatre in Malawi
Podcast
Melding Spoken Word Poetry and Theatre in Malawi
by Fumbani Innot Phiri, Khumbolane Chavula
16 November 2022
We Are All Kin to the Cove Brings Climate-Engaged Community Performance to Queens, New York
Essay
We Are All Kin to the Cove Brings Climate-Engaged Community Performance to Queens, New York
by Talia Rodriguez
22 September 2022
Poster for the FRESH 2023 online radio event.
FRESH 2023
Video

FRESH 2023

The International Event for the Development of Contemporary Circus and Outdoor Arts

20-22 September 2023
Paris, France

Artists, programmers, journalists, producers, researchers, and policymakers hailing from the contemporary circus sector and from the outdoor arts sector unite to delve into the topics of care, safety, and sustainability.

Critical Stages in Malawian Contemporary Theatre teaser image with the title at the top and a picture of the guest in the middle.
Melding Spoken Word Poetry and Theatre in Malawi
Podcast

Melding Spoken Word Poetry and Theatre in Malawi

16 November 2022

What does the voice of this millennium sound like? In this interview, Khumbolane Chavula provides one answer to that question by splicing together theatre, poetry, and entrepreneurship as the founder of Millesimal Poetry.

Five people on the beach gesturing towards the setting sun.
We Are All Kin to the Cove Brings Climate-Engaged Community Performance to Queens, New York
Essay

We Are All Kin to the Cove Brings Climate-Engaged Community Performance to Queens, New York

22 September 2022

Talia Rodriguez details the generative process for We Are Kin to the Cove, a site-specific, community-engaged performance exploring the historical and contemporary relationships water and humanity at a cove on New York’s East River.

PUHA Podcast Teaser.
Public Space
Podcast

Public Space

7 September 2022

In the first episode of PUHA (Performative Unity in the Hungarian Arts) podcast, co-hosts Zsófi and Bíborka, along with their guests, search for the meaning of the notion of “public space.” Through the experiences and experiments of interdisciplinary sound artist Dávid Somló; choreographer Flóra Eszter Sarlós; dancer and choreographer Gyula Cserepes; and theatremaker and performer Sarah Günther, this episode will take you on a tour of spaces, from Budapest to Denmark to London and more!

A person standing amongst city approved homeless deterrent pegs on a bench.
Humanizing Homelessness: An Interview with Lisa Hoelscher of Gathering Ground Theatre
Essay

Humanizing Homelessness: An Interview with Lisa Hoelscher of Gathering Ground Theatre

19 May 2022

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.

Three actors performing outdoors.
On Hauling Water: Outdoor Theatre as Re-Enchantment amidst Climate Crisis
Essay

On Hauling Water: Outdoor Theatre as Re-Enchantment amidst Climate Crisis

2 May 2022

Theatre artist Elle Thoni shares their experience working on the outdoor theatre production of a futuristic musical, Queen B, and challenges institutional ideas on how and where theatre can take place.

A crowd of people watching a makeshift dragon and horse in the street.
Returning to the Streets: Street Theatre in Modern Society
Essay

Returning to the Streets: Street Theatre in Modern Society

26 April 2022

Sebastiano Spinella explores the importance of street theatre and the modern significance it still holds.

Cast members standing side by side in a field.
Theatre on the Street: An Independent Theater Hungary Case Study
Essay

Theatre on the Street: An Independent Theater Hungary Case Study

11 April 2022

Rodrigó Balogh and Márton Illés discuss the process of creating outdoor theatre performances and share their experience producing them with Independent Theatre Hungary.

A large crowd walks alongside a life-sized internally controlled puppet.
Walk with Amal: The Five-Thousand-Mile-Long Theatrical Provocation
Essay

Walk with Amal: The Five-Thousand-Mile-Long Theatrical Provocation

7 February 2022

verity healey shares the journey and impact of Walk with Amal, an interactive, artistic project that centered on a large puppet refugee girl travelling through Europe.

Reappraising the Legacy of Ernie McClintock with Dr. Ibby Cizmar
Podcast

Reappraising the Legacy of Ernie McClintock with Dr. Ibby Cizmar

6 October 2021

Dr. Ibby Cizmar joins the Theatre History Podcast to share her research on Ernie McClintock, who worked to develop a system of training and performance that could serve the specific needs of African American actors in the mid-twentieth century. A significant influence in the Black Arts Movement, McClintock’s methods continue to influence institutions and theatremakers today.

Three people sitting onstage, one of them holding a globe, and five spirits above them, one in the middle connecting two blocks with a spark in between them.
Public Access Archives: The End of the Theatre Industry
Essay

Public Access Archives: The End of the Theatre Industry

7 September 2021

Taylor Leigh Lamb and Sabine Decatur share emails, letters, social media posts, and more from the future that represent the period of profound change in the theatre industry beginning in 2021.

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.

three people standing outside
Liberating Terror
Essay

Liberating Terror

Clown and Activism

13 November 2020

Sayda Trujillo talks about white supremacy’s prevalence in clown pedagogy and shares how the invincible spirit of the clown has shaped her, “seeping through every tiny crack possible to make itself present to speak, to laugh, to sing, to bounce, to witness, and to encounter.”

a clown kissing a clear riot shield
Antiauthoritarian Clowning
Essay

Antiauthoritarian Clowning

A Tactical Review

12 November 2020

L.M. Bogad shares the story of the beginnings of Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army, several tenets of “clownfrontational” tactics, examples of rebel clowning in a different contexts, and more.

three clowns posing with a handmade banner
Action and Reaction / Acción Y Reacción
Essay

Action and Reaction / Acción Y Reacción

The Experience of a Chilensis Clown Circus Theatre Company / Experiencia de una compañía chilensis de circo teatro payasx

11 November 2020

Members of Chile’s Compañía Siató—Valentina Paz Berger Correa, Jean Carlo Montecinos Carreño, Hernán Enrique Huerta Vargas, and Felipe Jesús Pereira Godoy—discuss clowning across Latin America; their show Sacrilegio, which denounces and ridicules religion, the church, and the police; the political duty of the artist; and more.

triptych of three clowns
A Very Very Very Serious Clown from Lebanon
Essay

A Very Very Very Serious Clown from Lebanon

10 November 2020

Amrita Dhaliwal and Nathaniel Justiniano speak with Lebanese humanitarian clown Sabine Choucair, covering the differences between clowning and bouffon, joining the revolution, environmental work, and more.

two puppets
Creating a Feminist Punch and Judy Show
Essay

Creating a Feminist Punch and Judy Show

16 June 2019

Roxanna Myhrum looks at the history of the iconic puppet show Punch and Judy and Sarah Nolen’s feminist adaptation of it, Judy Save the Day.

three different frames of a dancer
New to New Orleans / Venant d’arriver à la Nouvelle Orléans
Essay

New to New Orleans / Venant d’arriver à la Nouvelle Orléans

Three Theatremakers’ Impressions on Parades versus Protests / Les impressions de trois femmes de théâtre des parades et des manifestations

23 May 2019

Amelia Parenteau, along with theatremakers Eva Doumbia and Marie Houdin, explores the similarities and differences of parades and protests.

actors onstage
The Why and How of Site-Specific
Essay

The Why and How of Site-Specific

From Then to Now

2 May 2019

Anne Hamburger, founder of En Garde Arts, talks about the beginnings of her company, and, with it, the beginnings of site-specific theatre in New York City.

a band onstage
Nomadic Theatre Keeps its Traditions Alive in France / En France, la perpétuation du théâtre Sinti et nomade
Essay

Nomadic Theatre Keeps its Traditions Alive in France / En France, la perpétuation du théâtre Sinti et nomade

13 March 2019

Marine Leduc discusses the nomadic theatre traditions of the Hognon family, who travel southwestern France staging plays that explore their Tsigane identity. / Marine Leduc explore les traditions du théâtre nomade des Hognons, une famille qui voyage à travers le Sud-Ouest de la France et y joue des pièces qui parcourt leur identité tsigane.

Double Edge Theatre’s Latin American Cycle Builds Bridges Across Massachusetts
Essay

Double Edge Theatre’s Latin American Cycle Builds Bridges Across Massachusetts

20 October 2016

Josh Platt on Double Edge Theatre’s Latin American Spectacle in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, Cada Luna Azul / Once a Blue Moon in Ashfield, Massachusetts, and the Springfield Spectacle, in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Several people walking in a line down a sidewalk in a park.
SITSTANDWALKLIEDOWN
Essay

SITSTANDWALKLIEDOWN

23 August 2012

Phil Soltanoff writes about SITSTANDWALKLIEDOWN, and how performance art can make us think about how we live, work, and occupy public space.

A black and white photo of a mariachi band.
Southwest Detroit
Essay

Southwest Detroit

13 August 2012

Lisa Luevanos discusses art and Latino culture in the Southwest Detroit community.