From the Ground Up

By Jeffrey Mosser, HowlRound Theatre CommonsArts Performing Arts

From the Ground Up episodes

May 31, 2023 Opening the National Theatre’s Doors to Devised Work
Stewart Pringle, senior dramaturg at the National Theatre, sheds light on the theatre’s Generate program and discusses with Jeffrey Mosser the problem with the term “literary department,” when to take a risk, and why it’s important that the big fish in the big pond makes the investment in smaller-scale ensemble-based companies.
55 min
May 24, 2023 Ontroerend Goed’s Participatory Metaphors
Artistic director of Belgian theatre company Ontroerend Goed, Alexander Devriendt talks through their process for imagining and developing participatory content. Alexander and Jeffrey Mosser also dig into financing art in Europe, the cost of touring internationally and how COVID has affected it, and sustaining family and art simultaneously.
1 hr
May 17, 2023 SoulWork and Soul Searching
Culture worker and theatre practitioner Dr. Cristal Chanelle Truscott provides a primer on her SoulWork process, applies it to her present processes, and expands our horizons as artists.
59 min
May 10, 2023 Turning City Council Meetings into Performance
Creatives and book authors Mallory Catlett and Aaron Landsman dig into their new book based on their piece City Council Meeting, an exciting performance, rooted in a commonplace bureaucratic event, that develops dynamic participatory relationships with audiences and local government.
1 hr 9 min
May 03, 2023 Looking for Another Way
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.
47 min
April 26, 2023 Philanthropies, Foundations, and Boards (Oh, Wow)
Since the “great pause,” funders have shifted their giving models. Ben Cameron has seen it from every side—and he talks all about it. Through anecdotes about his experiences at organizations from Theatre Communications Group to the Jerome Foundation, Ben offers many insights into how ensemble fits in a thriving theatre ecosystem.
1 hr 23 min
April 19, 2023 Ensemble as Contemporary Commentary
Since the “great pause,” funders have shifted their giving models. Ben Cameron has seen it from every side—and he talks all about it. Through anecdotes about his experiences at organizations from Theatre Communications Group to the Jerome Foundation, Ben offers many insights into how ensemble fits in a thriving theatre ecosystem.
1 hr 9 min
April 12, 2023 A Living History of Ensemble Theatre (or Bob Leonard’s Ensemble Encyclopedia)
Bob Leonard chronicles his work from the People’s Bicentennial Commission and the Road Company through the founding of the Network of Ensemble Theaters and Alternate ROOTS. Together, Jeffrey Mosser and Bob connect the dots through the middle wave of ensemble-based theatre in the United States.
1 hr 7 min
April 05, 2023 Maintaining Connections from the Hyperlocal to the International
Carlos Uriona and Jennifer Johnson, co-artistic directors at Double Edge Theatre, connect with Jeffrey Mosser to discuss how working in rural Massachusetts for over thirty years has enabled them to share art on the world stage.
1 hr 18 min
March 29, 2023 What Ensemble Touring Can Learn from Dance
Jeffrey Mosser connects with Willa Jo Zollar, who is founder, chief visioning partner, and MacArthur Genius at Urban Bush Women. Together they talk about touring, the festival circuit, and strategy necessary to sustain a company for thirty years.
1 hr 18 min

About From the Ground Up

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Focused on collaboratively creative performance companies, From the Ground Up connects with theatremakers to understand the artistic, financial, and social sustainability of physical, devised, and…