Podcast
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From the Ground Up Podcast
Exploring the Future of Collaborative Theatre
What does it take to build a collaborative performance company—from the ground up?
Hosted and produced by ensemble creator and director Jeffrey Mosser, From the Ground Up is a deep-dive podcast that brings together theatre makers from around the globe to explore the artistic, financial, and social sustainability of ensemble-based practices.
In each episode, Jeffrey connects with visionaries—Tony Award-winners, international artists, TED Talkers, and grassroots organizers—who are redefining what it means to create theatre through collective action and shared vision.
This series is for anyone passionate about physical, devised, and ensemble-generated performance, as it confronts the big questions:
How can we sustain ensemble-based work without sacrificing the art at its core?
How do companies fund their vision and uphold values of transparency, equity, and justice?
What does true collaboration look like in practice—and how can it be cultivated?
What can commercial and mainstream theatre creators take away from collaboratively creative processes?
Whether you're a student, a seasoned practitioner, or a curious supporter of the arts, this podcast offers real-world roadmaps from companies who are making it work—on their own terms.
Topics You’ll Hear About:
Hands-on devising practices and aesthetic principles
Company dynamics and governance
Financial oversight and transparency
Academic and community partnerships
Navigating nonprofit and philanthropic landscapes
Touring, festival circuits, and civic practice
Social justice in performance
Episodes are released in partnership with HowlRound Theatre Commons, and include full transcripts available at HowlRound.com.
Listen and Subscribe:
Available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts.
Macarthur fellow & Artistic Visionary jawole Willa Jo ZoLLAR
““Oh yeah, we need to have more money in our cash reserve, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” but we didn’t really understand it until the pandemic. It was like, we don’t even have enough for a month of operating. Then it became really clear like, this is not sustainable.”
Michael Rohd on facilitation & Community
The job of the facilitator, the logic of shared leadership, and how it all translates to directing a process. Michael Rohd stands at the forefront of ensemble-based practices equipped with questions about how we create the future that we want to be working in socially, civically, and artistically. Join us as we unpack and define what’s next.
Ontroerend Goed pushes your boundaries
Belgian theater makers that ask audiences to contribute to the outcome while finding success through festival and touring circuits.
Studio Luna refuses definitions
“If you can find that specific niche of thing you needed but never got, you’re now in a position to give it, and the world will come out of your mouth when you start.”