About

Our Purpose

HowlRound is committed to modeling a commons-based approach to advancing the health and impact of the not-for-profit theater.

We design and develop online knowledge platforms and in-person gatherings that promote peer-to-peer participation, organizational collaboration, field-wide research, and new teaching practices to illuminate the breadth, diversity, and impact of a commons-based approach to theater practice.

Our Statement of Principles

• We reaffirm the original purpose of not-for-profit theater as our organizing principle, to understand theater in the context of its communities, artists, and institutions as an instrument of civilization.
• We use a commons-based approach to our work that includes open-sourcing, peer-to-peer processes, and community-sourced knowledge that we share freely through internet-based technologies and in-person gatherings.We believe the value of not-for-profit theater transcends market exchange.
• We embrace the concepts of open innovation and believe that the theater field will be advanced only through the pooling and sharing of knowledge and resources.
• We, thus, strive to be a space where people can bring the knowledge and resources they are able to share and to use the knowledge and resources they need.
• We engage our role as global citizens and participate in international efforts that align with our commons-based thinking.

Our Practice

We have created commons-based platforms to encourage:

• Increased sharing of resources.
• Alignments and efficiencies to free more resources for theater makers and to minimize the cost of infrastructure.
• Value-generation that's not based solely in market transactions.
• Reduced barriers to access and increased participation in the theater.
• The creation of new tools and platforms by others.

HowlRound is modeling a commons.

We are not The Commons.

A theater commons, if it is to be manifested, will need to be cocreated by others committed to its existence. 

Our HowlRound Knowledge Platforms