HowlRound - A Case Story in Cultural Commoning Jamie Gahlon “Commoning is at bottom a process by which we enter into a participatory culture and can sketch an idea of how we want to live together as a society”. David Bollier & Silke Helfrich (2015)
HowlRound is a free and open platform for theatre-makers worldwide dedicated to amplifying progressive, disruptive ideas about the art form and to facilitating artistic, intellectual and personal connection between diverse theatre practitioners. HowlRound aims not just to change the conversation, but to change theatre practice and its influence on communities around the world.
Zelda Fichandler,53 one of the founders of the American regional theatre movement, wrote in a letter to the Department of the Treasury in support of the taxexempt status for American theatre: “Once we made the choice to produce our plays not to recoup an investment but to recoup some corner of the universe for our understanding and enlargement, we entered the same world as the university, the museum, the church and became, like them, an instrument of civilization”. Zelda articulated beautifully what those of us working in the arts understand innately - that theatre (and other public spaces of cultural value) cannot and should not be defined by market value alone. Despite being rooted in countercultural ideals, the American not-for-profit theatre risks being co-opted by our hyper-capitalist mores. For us, this is where the true value of cultural commoning comes in. It provides an alternative model and framework for creative action that promotes values necessary for influential and meaningful theatre-making: • generosity and abundance - all are welcome and necessary
In Patterns of Commoning 51 Bollier and Helfrich write: “A commons must arise from the personal engagement of commoners themselves. It is unavoidably the product of unique personalities, geographic locations, cultural contexts, moments in time and political circumstances of that particular commons”. This is certainly true of HowlRound.
• community and collaboration - over isolation and competition
Created in 2011, HowlRound is a non-profit organization based at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Our founding came at a time in theatre practice where we saw too many voices left off our stages, not represented inside of our institutions, not recognized for their substantial contribution to our past and present. We set about creating a group of tools that would amplify voices and issues chronically under-represented and unheard in the theatre. Our name, HowlRound, is a technical term for what happens when you place a microphone next to an amplifier. It’s the sound of a feedback loop.
• visibility and accessibility for under-represented theatre communities and practices
We found an organizing principle in the commons as a social structure that invites open participation around shared values. HowlRound is a knowledge commons that encourages freely sharing intellectual and artistic resources and expertise. It is our strong belief that the power of live theatre connects us across difference, puts us in proximity with one another, and strengthens our tether to our commonalities. Our current tools - a journal, a live-streaming video channel and archive, an opensource World Theatre Map,52 and in-person convenings - facilitate connection and conversation across geography, aesthetic and cultural difference. 34
• counter-cultural ideas and leading-edge research that challenges - and seeks to revolutionize - the status quo • diverse aesthetics and the evolution of forms of theatre practice
• global connection - local communities becoming global practice • timely discourse - work that addresses the most pressing issues of our time such as climate change, migration, and racial, gender and class equity. HowlRound is an invitation to any theatre-maker who wants to participate - anyone can pitch an article for the journal, propose to livestream an event on HowlRound TV, or join and contribute information to the World Theatre Map. The beauty of a cultural commons is that it encourages access and participation. And in so doing it democratizes things like social standing and hierarchies that may normally prevent folks from contributing. Since our founding, we have published over 2,000 articles by 1,000 authors and have roughly 45,000 readers each month. HowlRound TV has amassed over 6,000 archived, on-demand videos, and viewers have logged a total of 7.5 million minutes of viewing time. In its first six weeks of existence 800
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