Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
On 17 August 2026, TORCHES continues with a conversation with award winning theater maker Melanie Joseph. She founded and led the Foundry Theatre for 25 years.
Melanie Joseph is a dramaturg, community organizer, creative producer, and the founder of The Foundry Theatre. For twenty-five years The Foundry was a refuge for collaborations between artists in every discipline, activists, and scholars—working together at the edge of what’s possible in performance, public discourse, and social justice communities. The Foundry’s commissioned works toured nationally and internationally, garnered all kinds of nominations and awards, and troubled the conventions of the American Theatre. Melanie herself has been honored with the Doris Duke Artist Prize, two Ross Wetzsteon Obie Awards, the Lucille Lortel Award for Artistic Producing, The Skirball Kennis Artist Prize and nine Drama Desk Award Nominations for “Unique Theatrical Experience” (that never won. Ever ;=). All of the above history is documented, interrogated, and re-imagined in A Moment on the Clock of the World—a book that launches both The Foundry’s and Melanie’s creative inquiry into the future tense; while the company’s visual histories can be explored in its website. Melanie is currently an independent artist and producer whose work continues to explore questions of theatre and its place in these complex times.
About HowlRound TV
HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based, peer-produced, open-access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and develop our knowledge commons collectively. Anyone can participate in this community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our contribute content page.
On 17 August 2026, TORCHES continues with a conversation with award winning theater maker Melanie Joseph. She founded and led the Foundry Theatre for 25 years.
Melanie Joseph is a dramaturg, community organizer, creative producer, and the founder of The Foundry Theatre. For twenty-five years The Foundry was a refuge for collaborations between artists in every discipline, activists, and scholars—working together at the edge of what’s possible in performance, public discourse, and social justice communities. The Foundry’s commissioned works toured nationally and internationally, garnered all kinds of nominations and awards, and troubled the conventions of the American Theatre. Melanie herself has been honored with the Doris Duke Artist Prize, two Ross Wetzsteon Obie Awards, the Lucille Lortel Award for Artistic Producing, The Skirball Kennis Artist Prize and nine Drama Desk Award Nominations for “Unique Theatrical Experience” (that never won. Ever ;=). All of the above history is documented, interrogated, and re-imagined in A Moment on the Clock of the World—a book that launches both The Foundry’s and Melanie’s creative inquiry into the future tense; while the company’s visual histories can be explored in its website. Melanie is currently an independent artist and producer whose work continues to explore questions of theatre and its place in these complex times.
About HowlRound TV
HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based, peer-produced, open-access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and develop our knowledge commons collectively. Anyone can participate in this community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our contribute content page.
