There’s so much to be learned from history, and theatre is no exception. If you’re looking to dive into theatre’s past, the Theatre History Podcast is the perfect place to start.
Jaan Whitehead examines the history of boards in the theatre sector and argues for a better way to approach governance, including through changes to a board’s membership, structure, and values.
Jacqueline Flores and Abel López, co-curators of the Latinx Leaders at the Forefront series, discuss their careers, their sense of cultural identity as Latinx theatremakers, and importance of intergenerational dialogue.
Playwright and director Karen Malpede joins Jeffrey Mosser to talk about her career and connections from the Open Theater to Theater Three Collaborative, as well as her partner George Bartenieff, an actor and champion for the avant-garde.
Reflecting the United States Latinx Experience on Stage
2 May 2023
Nidia Medina, associate artistic director of INTAR Theatre, interviews José Luis Valenzuela, artistic director of the Latino Theater Company, about his path into artistic direction, his mentors, and the legacy he has cultivated.
Latinx Theatre Commons producer Jacqueline Flores introduces the Latinx Leaders at the Forefront Series, which amplifies the history and work of Latinx teatros through conversations between established theatremakers with future leaders of the field.
Linda Chapman and Jim Nicola: Thirty Years at New York Theatre Workshop
Joined by Jean Passanante and Patricia McGregor and moderated by Frank Hentschker
Thursday 27 April 2023
New York
Join us for an evening celebrating the work of Linda Chapman and James C. Nicola at the legendary New York Theatre Workshop. In their thirty-four-year run, Linda and James, at the 199-seat East Village theatre, gave birth to hundreds of important theatre works including Tony-winning best musicals Rent, Once, and Hadestown,as well as What the Constitution Means to Me and Slave Play.
Making Then Is Now During a Pandemic with Our Chinese Canadian Feminist Elders
28 March 2023
Julia Hune-Brown and Keira Loughran discuss crafting Then Is Now, a concept album/video playlist they created through conversations with Chinese Canadian women who grew up in Toronto’s Chinatown during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Grupo Tapa's PapaHighirte: A Brazilian Masterpiece About Bolsonaro’s Fall
14 February 2023
Theatre researcher and journalist Eduardo Campos Lima discusses Grupo Tapa’s production of Papa Highirte and explores the history of the powerful play.
I Write What Comes Up in My Body: Robbie McCauley's Theatre
24 August 2022
In this episode, Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley look at the life and legacy of playwright Robbie McCauley, who recently passed away. They discuss her work as a pioneer of solo performance as a Black woman and how she impacted the world of Black feminist theatre.
The Anti-War Play to End All War Plays: The Last Days of Mankind,1922 to 2022
16 August 2022
Theatremaker Joel Schechter explains the importance of Karl Kraus’s The Last Days of Mankind and why he believes its anti-war message is still relevant today.
In this episode, Leticia and Jordan finally explain what they mean when they say Black feminism, especially in theatre and performance. They engage Lisa M. Anderson’s tenets of Black feminist drama, alongside other contemporary scholars and artists expansion of Black feminist theatre. They discuss Black feminist theory, black feminist practice in creative work, and black feminist theatre theory.
Working Her Own Tune: Revisiting the Life, Legacy, and Work of Micki Grant
6 July 2022
This episode honors the life and work of composer, writer, and performer Micki Grant, who passed away in August 2021. Grant was the first Black woman to write and compose a musical that made it to Broadway, and she is also the subject of Jordan's dissertation.
This episode is an interview with Addae Moon, the associate artistic director at Theatrical Outfit in Atlanta, Georgia. We discuss his journey as a theatre artist; his playwright development lab, Hush Harbor Lab; and his own artistry and creativity.
Singin' a Black Girl's Song- Ntozake Shange and for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf
22 June 2022
This episode explores the recent revival of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, directed and choreographed by Camille A. Brown. Hosts Leticia Ridley and Jordan Ealey contextualize the production, its ongoing relevance and legacy, and its resonance in Black feminist theatre, dance, and performance.
Book Talk: Negotiating Copyright in the American Theatre: 1856-1951
With author and Stanford Center for Law and History Fellow, Brent Salter
Thursday 5 May 2022
United States
The Stanford Center for Law and History and the Department of Theater and Performance Studies, Stanford presented a conversation around the book Negotiating Copyright in the American Theatre: 1856-1951 livestreaming on the commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 5 May 2022 at 12:40 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 2:40 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 3:40 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).
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.
Imagining a New Federal Theatre Project with Corinna Schulenberg and Dr. Elizabeth A. Osborne
24 November 2021
As a part of the New Deal, the Federal Theatre Project of the 1930s funded theatre in the United States at an unprecedented level, providing paid work for trained theatremakers and low-cost performances to audiences all around the country. Corinna Schulenberg and Dr. Elizabeth A. Osborne discuss the history of the Federal Theatre Project and its potential to act as a model for a New Federal Theatre Project formed in conjunction with racial justice, climate justice, and Land Back movements.
Shakespeare looms large over both the American and British theatre scenes. But his outsize influence means that we’ve long neglected a dizzying array of fascinating and brilliant theatre written by other early modern England dramatists. Robert Crighton and the Beyond Shakespeare Company are working to remedy this, and Robert joins us for this episode to discuss how they’re trying to expand our awareness of the theatre of this era.
A Theatre for the Oppressed? Dr. Amy Richlin on Slavery and Plautus
10 November 2021
The ancient Roman comedies of Plautus have inspired playwrights from Shakespeare to Sondheim. But they've also been seen as grim reminders of the oftentimes horrifying world of ancient Rome, where violence and slavery were commonplace. Dr. Amy Richlin joins Mike Lueger to talk about her book Slave Theater in the Roman Republic, which explores how Plautus's plays gave voice to enslaved persons during this era.
Lady Romeo: Learning About Nineteenth-Century Actress Charlotte Cushman with Tana Wojczuk
3 November 2021
In the nineteenth century, Charlotte Cushman became United States’ first celebrity actress. Tana Wojczuk, who has written a new biography of Cushman, joins the Mike Lueger to talk about the actress’s remarkable life both on stage and off.
Introducing the University of Pittsburgh's August Wilson Archive
With Dr. Sandra Shannon and Bill Daw
27 October 2021
As the University of Pittsburgh prepares to make August Wilson’s archive publicly accessible, Dr. Sandra G. Shannon and William Daw join Mike Leuger to discuss Wilson’s flourishing legacy.
An array of short performances, readings, and screenings, plus conversations with artists across the United States
Monday 25 October to Friday 29 October
United States
The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the Graduate Center, CUNY presented its 2021 PRELUDE festival, "Prelude 2021: Start Making Sense!," livestreaming on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network from Monday 25 October to Friday 29 October 2021.
Dr. Megan Sanborn Jones on Pageants and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
13 October 2021
In this week’s Theatre History Podcast, Dr. Megan Sanborn Jones discusses the history of Mormons in theatre and the pageant tradition in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Through her deep research on these pageants, Dr. Jones explores the unique fusion of faith, history, and performance in Mormon pageantry.
Learning About the History—and Future—of Stand-up Comedy
With Rachel Blackburn
29 September 2021
Michael Lueger is joined by director, performer, and educator Dr. Rachel Blackburn to discuss diversity and intersectionality within the stand-up comedy world and how comics are engaging with social issues and movements.