HowlRound.com — A Center for the Theater Commons, Emerson College

The Encyclopedia Show Arizona: A Successful Community Theater Model

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:25:00 -0700

On May 11th, 2013, I watched a Direct TV salesman perform a slam poem about human cannonballs. The Empty Space Theatre—a black box on the Arizona State University campus—was decorated with streamers, balloons, and a projector screen on the back wall was lit with a picture of a big top. The theme of the evening was “The Circus.” The aforementioned poem was sandwiched between a slideshow presentation about the history of the circus and a half-dragged juggler, tossing scarves and comparing the trick to balancing gender as a gay man. The Encyclopedia Show Arizona is an offshoot of a national project started in Chicago in 2008. Co-founders Shanny Jean Maney and Robbie Q. Telfer created the “live variety extravaganza” with the mission to “chafe against logic and proof, find meaning in obfuscation, and wrest truth from fact once and for all.” The first show’s theme was Bears and invited “local...

Live on HowlRound TV: CityWrights: A Professional Weekend for Playwrights—City Theatre, Miami—Thurs, June 20 - Sat, June 22

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:00:00 -0700

City Theatre in Miami, Florida hosts CityWrights 2013 —CityWrights: A Professional Weekend for Playwrights —which will be livestreaming on HowlRound TV Thursday, June 20 to Saturday, June 22. To participate in discussion, use Twitter hashtag #newplay and follow @ CityTheatreFL and @HowlRoundTV for updates. Livestreaming Schedule ( subject to change ) Thursday, June 20 at 6am PDT / 8am CDT / 9am EDT When Does A Playwright Need A Lawyer? Valuable information for playwrights on issues of rights, protection and legal representation. Moderator: Kelly Melchiondo. Dave Faux (Dramatists Guild), Laura Bruney (Arts & Business Council, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts Miami). Thursday, June 20 at 7am PDT / 9am CDT / 10am EDT All About Samuel French. Led by Amy Marsh. Getting Published, E-Publishing, the Samuel French Institute and Samuel French’s off-off Broadway Festival. With SF Playwrights Robert Caisley, Matt Hoverman, Deborah Yarchun & Steve Yockey. Thursday, June 20 at...

Live on HowlRound TV: Write with & Get Advice from Suzan-Lori Parks—The Public Theater, NYC—Wed, June 19

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:41:12 -0700

You’re invited to join Suzan-Lori Parks from the lobby of The Public Theater for Watch Me Work which will be livestreaming for the global, peer-produced, open-source HowlRound TV project. The twelfth performance in this series happens on Wednesday, June 19 at 2pm PDT (San Francisco) / 4pm CDT (Austin) / 5pm EDT (New York) / 21:00 GMT / 10pm BST (London). View a conversion into your local time . Watch Me Work is a performance piece, a meditation on the artistic process, and an actual work session, featuring Parks working on her newest writing project on the newly built mezzanine of The Public Theater lobby. The audience is invited to come and watch her work and/or to share the space and get some of their own writing work done. During the last fifteen minutes of the performance, Parks will answer any questions the in-person audience and online audience might have...

Weekly Howl on Twitter hashtag #newplay: Community, You're Curating This! Topic: TBD by you—Thursday, June 20

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:46:18 -0700

The Weekly Howl is a peer-produced, open-access discussion about theater culture and contemporary performance that happens in real-time on Twitter using the hashtag #newplay .* Join us Thursday, June 20 for the Weekly Howl on hashtag #newplay at 11am PDT – 12pm PDT (Los Angeles) / 1pm CDT – 2pm CDT (Austin) / 2pm EDT – 3pm EDT (New York) / 18:00 GMT – 19:00 GMT / 7pm BST - 8pm BST (London) / 8pm CEST - 9pm CEST (Berlin). Click here for an automatic conversion into your local time . This week's topic is: To Be Determined by You! Tweet us topics @HowlRound and we'll collectively decide which one to run with on Thursday. On Thursday, get heard in the conversation by searching for #newplay in Twitter (sort by “all”) and by putting “#newplay” somewhere in your messages. Spread the word! *The hashtag #newplay in Twitter is a commons...

Stuck in Stupid

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:25:00 -0700

Change is hard for many people, most often because we fear the unknown. What will happen if I change? Suppose things don’t get better? It’s easy to get stuck doing the same behavior over and over, even when that behavior ignores the inevitable change that is taking place all around us. Stuck in stupid . Theaters, like people, can be resistant to change. They need to respond to cultural shifts, changes in behavior, and consumer tastes, yet many theaters are stuck in stupid . Responding to consumer demand does not mean abandoning one’s mission or values. It simply means reimagining your operation to stay relevant. Historically, theaters have evolved to remain relevant. From socially and politically conscious theater of the 1930s to the 1950s, to the “Little Theater Movement” that gave rise to black box theater and a new generation of playwrights, theaters have reimagined what they do to keep...

"Go forth and have more talk of these sad things": Reflections on creating political theater

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 08:25:00 -0700

When I set out to produce Juliet & Romeo , a queered adaptation of Romeo & Juliet featuring two women as the star-crossed lovers, I knew that I wanted to focus on three themes—homelessness, suicide, and hate crimes. These themes already exist within the text of Romeo & Juliet and are all prevalent issues within the LGBTQ community. I am constantly amazed at how this story and four hundred-year-old text has the ability to be a stark reflection of the world that we live in today. Little did I know how pressing these themes would become during the rehearsal process of this show. This is the second time I’ve produced and played Romeo in a queered version of Romeo & Juliet . The first production, Romeo & Juliet: Forbidden Love Comes to North Carolina , developed as a direct response to North Carolina’s Anti-LGBT legislation—Amendment One—that went up for a...

Memory in Motion: An Interview with Kuma Hula Vicky Holt Takamine

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 08:25:00 -0700

With the Network of Ensemble Theaters’ (NET) MicroFest Honolulu about to begin on O‘ahu, I sat down with Kumu Hula (hula teacher) Vicky Holt Takamine to talk about hula, the Hawaiian language, and more. Her foundation PA‘I , a non-profit organization established to support native Hawaiian art and artists, is hosting MicroFest and a number of the diverse visiting artists, all of whom are connected by their dedication to art that addresses social and environmental issues, rather than “art for art’s sake.” Eleanor Svaton: Talk about how you see hula as an art form that addresses social issues. Vicky Holt Takamine: Hula is a form of resistance. Hula was banned in 1820 by the missionaries, but King David Kalākaua brought hula back. Then the language was banned from being spoken in school. My grandmother spoke the Hawaiian language fluently, but not one of her ten children speaks the language. Because...

Hijaimigui

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:25:00 -0700

I never think about what I do. I never plan or plot or even think about looking at the big picture. When Eric of Honolulu Theatre for Youth asked me how I manage to balance the seemingly disparate parts of my life—experimental dance theater director and teacher of classical Okinawan dance—I had to stop and think. Which didn’t help. I don’t know why or how I do what I do. To me, what I do is as natural as breathing. I’m not sure I can answer this question, but here’s my best guess. I think this place called Hawai‘i has a lot to do with it. To most visitors, this is the ultimate vacation destination with sandy beaches, endless summers, and a gentle people—all Hawaiians of course—filled with aloha. And if you’re careful to stay within the boundaries of Waikiki that is all you will see. If you’re adventurous enough...

Response to “Making a Career, Making a Living in the Arts”

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:51:25 -0700

If you weren't born into the middle or upper class, the primary avenue to a career in our field [internships] is not an option for you.

Live on HowlRound TV: Third Annual Chicago One-Minute Play Festival at Victory Gardens—Tues, June 18

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 07:00:00 -0700

The One-Minute Play Festival & Victory Gardens Theater present The Third Annual Chicago One-Minute Play Festival livestreaming on HowlRound TV on Tuesday, June 18 at 5:30pm PDT (San Francisco) / 7:30pm CDT (Chicago) / 8:30pm EDT (New York) To participate: host a watch party and join the conversation on Twitter hashtags #1MPF and #newplay . Follow @DominicDAndrea and @HowlRoundTV for updates. One-minute plays by nearly 60 established and emerging Chicago playwrights were commissioned for this special annual event, and developed with OMPF’s playmaking process. Featuring brand new one-minute plays by : David Cerda, Phillip Dawkins, Lonnie Carter, Randall Colburn, Dana Lynn Formby, Stephen Grush, Patrick McLean, Joel Drake Johnson, Bilal Dardai, Usman Ally, Laura Jacqmin, Mike Ervin, Seth Bockley, Evan Linder, Jake Minton, Nick Patricca, Caitlin Montanye Parrish, Arlene Malinowski, Nambi E. Kelley, Robert Tenges, Carlos Murillo, Emily Schwartz , Reeny Hofricher, Joe Wescott, Scott T. Barsotti, Joe Zarrow, Rachel...