Gahlon Named HowlRound Director

HowlRound, a free and open platform for theatremakers located at Emerson College, has named co-founder and interim director Jamie Gahlon as its new director.

Gahlon has been serving as interim director since November 2017, following the departure of HowlRound co-founder/director P. Carl. Previously, Gahlon was senior creative producer.

“Jamie has been an intrinsic partner in the visioning, innovation, growth, and management of HowlRound,” David Dower, HowlRound contributing editor and vice president of Emerson’s Office of the Arts, under which the platform operates. “I’m delighted to see her step into this leadership role and look forward to working closely with her as we move the whole discussion and community forward.”

HowlRound is a “commons” that invites theatremakers from around the world to engage with  its programs and tools, including an online journal, HowlRound TV, the World Theatre Map, the Latinx Theatre Commons, documenting the impact of playwright residencies through the National Playwright Residency Program, and in-person convenings.

It began as part of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, before moving to Emerson in 2012. It originally launched as a journal created to amplify the voices of artists and issues that were chronically underrepresented and unheard in theatre.

Gahlon has more than a decade of experience, most recently as HowlRound senior creative producer, running day-to-day operations and producing all HowlRound programming. Prior to her work at HowlRound, Gahlon helped launch the AVNPI and the NEA New Play Development Program.

She also has worked for New York Stage & Film and the New Victory Theatre. She is a proud member of the Latinx Theatre Commons Steering Committee, a core producer for Jubilee, and a think tank member for the Laboratory for Global Performance & Politics.

Karen Zacarías, award-winning playwright and co-founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons, credited Gahlon for being a leading supporter of the Commons, and for leading HowlRound to its current position at the vanguard of action and discourse locally, nationally, and globally.

“She is an innovative and savvy producer,” Zacarías said, “a fierce advocate for artists and new work, and a beacon in new ways of building inclusive and sustainable practices to usher in a new stage of theatre.”

Gahlon called her seven years at HowlRound a “privilege and a joy” to “amplify voices that need to be heard and hold space for the often difficult but critical discourse we need to advance the field.”