HowlRound Theatre Commons' Podcasts

By David Dower. Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: Ed Herendeen, Artistic Director of the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

By David Dower, Ed Herendeen. Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots.

By David Dower. Today my guest is Tracey Scott Wilson. Her play Buzzer recently closed at The Goodman and she's also a writer on my favorite television show "The Americans". Tracey and I have, for years, had these wide ranging conversations about the state of race in our lives now—as it is refracted off our experiences of the culture. What becomes evident to me, as we are talking, is that Tracey is writing her plays from a very particular and personal point of view: she's trying to write out of a question of "why does this make me feel uncomfortable, and what can I learn if I stay in this discomfort rather than push it away?" The difference between what we are supposed to say and feel, and what we want to say and actually feel is her playground. I enjoy playing in that park with her.

By David Dower. Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: Tracey Scott Wilson.

By David Dower, Tracey Scott Wilson. Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theatre artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: Tracey Scott Wilson.

By David Dower. Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: Marc Kudisch.

By David Dower. Today I cheated a little bit and just called Marc Kudisch, a great friend who is in the middle of the run of a show we made together. I won't link it here so that it's not a commercial. Marc and I have had so many conversations over the past few years about the state of the field from his perspective. He's had a great run in the theater, on and off Broadway, in musicals and straight plays, in new work and classics, and in and out of television along the way. And over the years he's also developed his skills as a producer, primarily of new work and most often of work he's ultimately performing in.

By David Dower, Mark Kudisch. Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week: Marc Kudisch.

By David Dower. So my friend Clyde Valentín is my guest today on the Friday Phone Call. I seem to be in a mood around friends in transition. As with Deb Cullinan and Todd London, Clyde recently began a new adventure after a long stretch as the Executive Director of The Hip Hop Theater Festival. He has taken on the job of leading a new initiative at Southern Methodist University in Dallas: The Arts and Urbanism Initiative. Clyde is very much in the conceptual days of this project—he has been in place for just a few months thus far. I love hearing him think out loud about the path at SMU, the path for HHTF and him, and the role of a university in community. Clyde is also a key organizer of the Latino Theater Commons but we will have to get back on the phone another time to get that whole story.

By David Dower. So my friend Clyde Valentín is my guest today on the Friday Phone Call. I seem to be in a mood around friends in transition. As with Deb Cullinan and Todd London, Clyde recently began a new adventure after a long stretch as the Executive Director of The Hip Hop Theater Festival. He has taken on the job of leading a new initiative at Southern Methodist University in Dallas: The Arts and Urbanism Initiative. Clyde is very much in the conceptual days of this project—he has been in place for just a few months thus far. I love hearing him think out loud about the path at SMU, the path for HHTF and him, and the role of a university in community. Clyde is also a key organizer of the Latino Theater Commons but we will have to get back on the phone another time to get that whole story.

By David Dower, Clyde Valentin. So my friend Clyde Valentín is my guest today on the Friday Phone Call. I seem to be in a mood around friends in transition.

By David Dower. My guest today is Richard Montoya, playwright and a co-founder of Culture Clash. Culture Clash is turning 30! And for many years the trio (Montoya, Herbert Siguenza, and Ricardo Salinas) have managed to balance their individual careers (and their family lives) with the work of the ensemble. We talk a bit about Richard's experience of that balance.

By David Dower. This week on Friday Phone Call, David Dower talks to Richard Montoya, playwright and a co-founder of Culture Clash.

By David Dower, Richard Montoya. This week on Friday Phone Call, David Dower talks to Richard Montoya, playwright and a co-founder of Culture Clash.

By David Dower. Today I get to catch up with janera solomon, the Executive Director of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh. When I spoke to her it was days before this announcement, but she didn't say a word about it. Cool as a cucumber this one! Not only has she done great work with Kelly Strayhorn, she also talks about her work as part of an effort to save the troubled August Wilson Center. This woman is a force and a friend and I know you will enjoy getting to know her.