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: janera solomon, the Executive Director of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh.

By David Dower, janera solomon. 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 I get a chance to talk with one of my heroes, Todd London. Todd is in the middle of a transition from his position as Artistic Director of New Dramatists to a new role at the University of Washington in Seattle. I was glad to catch up with him to hear what the new job is, how he came to it, and what's in store there. But I also asked him to talk about the transition at New Dramatists and was surprised and impressed at how mindful and well planned the handoff has been. It is a revelation to hear him talk about that process in detail.

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: Todd London.

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

By David Dower. Today I followed a hunch that there was an interesting conversation to be had with Jess Barbagallo and Polly Carl about gender in today's theater. The conversation stems from a very awkward (to me) moment in "House of Dance" where Jess's character, Lee, is confronted over gender in a devastating way. Lee crumbles, mumbles, and withdraws from the confrontation. What struck me, listening to these two talk, was how relentless and varied these confrontations are for people living between the poles of our binary perceptions of gender. I was also shocked by how little I am prepared to have a conversation about life between those poles.

By David Dower, P. Carl. Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week's guests: Jess Barbagallo and P. Carl.

By David Dower, P. Carl, Jess Barbagallo. Listen to weekly podcasts hosted by David Dower as he interviews theater artists from around the country to highlight #newplay bright spots. This week's guests: Jess Barbagallo and P. Carl.

By David Dower. My guest today is Eric Ting, Associate Artistic Director at the Long Wharf in New Haven, CT. We get into some detail around the challenges of planing a season that amplifies and advances your personal values. In this moment of heated discussion around equity and representation, Eric and I have a chance to get underneath it a bit and I appreciate his capacity to be generous, open, and articulate about difficult subjects for people in his role to tackle publicly, generally.

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: Eric Ting, Associate Artistic Director at the Long Wharf in New Haven, CT.

By David Dower, Eric Ting. 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. So, today is something completely different. I talk with Leah Karpel, Marc Pierre, and Michael Anthony Williams—each of whom was involved in a production of Jackie Sibblies Drury's "We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About The Herero Of Namibia, Formerly Known As Southwest Africa, From The German Sudwestafrika Between The Years 1884-1915."

By David Dower. So, today is something completely different. I talk with Leah Karpel, Marc Pierre, and Michael Anthony Williams—each of whom was involved in a production of Jackie Sibblies Drury's "We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About The Herero Of Namibia, Formerly Known As Southwest Africa, From The German Sudwestafrika Between The Years 1884-1915."

By David Dower, Leah Karpel, Michael Anthony Williams, Marc Pierre. So, today is something completely different.

By David Dower. If you don't know these guys and their work, check out their website. Michael and Abby are following their own muse and it is taking them along the road less traveled. I saw their piece "The Record" at Under the Radar this year. We talk a bit about the mechanics of this work, which essentially has 35 performers (most non-professionals) rehearsed individually and only coming together in the moment of the unfolding of the performance itself. An earlier piece that is referenced in the call was their response to "Death of a Salesman", a piece entitled "This Great Country"—and in significant ways the piece that put them on the radar before Under the Radar. I get into some crevices of their progress to date—trying to unpack how they are developing both their work and their identity as a company, how the path from obscurity ("20 people in a basement") to international touring is treating them and what it teaches us to hear from people in the middle of that crossing. This is a call that flew by for me, and left me determined to hear more from them a little further along that path. And if you can get to the Mt. Tremper festival this summer, you have a chance to see them in action.