About The Debate Society

The Debate Society is a Brooklyn, NY based company that creates new plays through the collaboration of Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen and Oliver Butler. This development of new work relies on the writing and adaptation of actors Ms. Bos and Mr. Thureen combined with the rehearsal experimentation and direction of Mr. Butler.

The trio began their work together with A Thought About Raya, developed from the writings of Russian absurdist Daniil Kharms. The play premiered in New York City in April 2004 and has subsequently toured to Portland, OR, Austin, TX and Hartford, CT. They went on to create The Snow Hen, developed with the help of a Chashama Performing Arts Studio Award, which premiered at The Charlie Pineapple Theater in Brooklyn In May 2007. The Debate Society opened The Eaten Heart at The Ontological Hysteric Theater in New York, developed with the help of a National Endowment for the Arts Performance Development Grant.

TDS was recently awarded a Greenwall Foundation grant to develop their fourth full length work Cape Disappointment which will premiere at PS122 Nov-Dec ‘08. The company is also currently developing a cycle of short plays, entitled You’re Welcome, commissioned by Dixon Place. The work of The Debate Society has been supported by grants from The National Endowment for the Arts, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The Greenwall Foundation, The Puffin Foundation, Chashama, The Sons of Norway Foundation, Fractured Atlas and The Mancini Foundation.

 

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Company Biographies

Hannah Bos (Creator/Performer) Hannah Bos is a Brooklyn based actor and writer. Recent performances include Andrei Serban's Lysistrata with Cherry Jones, The Pumpkin Pie Show: Ringside Seats, Cardiac Shadow and Junta High at PS122, Three Farces and a Funeral and Janos Szasz's Marat/Sade at the American Repertory Theatre. She has performed internationally with Francois Rochaix’s Versailles Impromptu and Yuri Yeremin’s Man of La Mancha. She has written and performed in The Eaten Heart, The Snow Hen, and A Thought About Raya. Hannah was recently named Best Actress of 2007 by the Gothamist for her work with The Debate Society. She is also the co-creator/writer of The Mimi and Flo Show, a Choose your own Web-venture webseries. She holds a BA from Vassar College and a MFA from the graduate acting program at the American Repertory Theater for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University/Moscow Art Theater.

 

Paul Thureen (Creator/Performer) Mr. Thureen spent a season acting with Minneapolis' Theatre de la Jeune Lune, co-creating and performing in The Description of the World and touring with Jeune Lune and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in performances of Façade and Pulcinella . Recent New York and international performances include One Year Lease's tour of Oresteia in Athens and Milan, Tango 'til They're Sore at The Flea, and Clay McLeod Chapman's The Pumpkin Pie Show at P.S. 122. He has written and performed in The Eaten Heart, The Snow Hen, and A Thought About Raya. He has studied acting at The National Theater Institute, Vassar College, and The Moscow Art Theater.

 

Oliver Butler   (Director) In New York Mr. Butler has directed The Eaten Heart, The Snow Hen, A Thought About Raya, After, Seduced, Christmas with the Flamingos, Sold Out: The Rock Musical, Real Dramatic , and Day of Reckoning. He was the Assistant Artistic Director of The Berkshire Theatre Festival where he directed The Einstein Project and This is our Youth. Mr. Butler has assisted directors including Jo Bonney, Pam Mackinnon, and John Rando.   In 2004 and 2005 he was a participating director in Lincoln Center's Directors Lab.