The Debate Society http://thedebatesociety.org Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:39:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 Buddy Cop 2 http://thedebatesociety.org/untitled-buddy-cop-play/ http://thedebatesociety.org/untitled-buddy-cop-play/#comments Thu, 13 May 2010 06:00:20 +0000 admin http://thedebatesociety.org/?p=510


Two cops . . . in the kind of quiet little town where a kid dreams of growing up to be a fireman. Or a racecar driver. Where the only question you ask yourself at the end of the day is if you’re gonna knock back your cold one at Swanky’s, Spanky’s or Zingers. A town where neighbors pitch in to help neighbors in need. And where if you wake up in the middle of the night . . . you should keep your eyes closed. Because the man in red is there in the corner. Watching you. Smiling at you with his yellow eyes and black teeth. Best to pretend you’re still asleep.

Written by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen
Directed and developed by Oliver Butler

Premiere production ran:

May 20–June 12, 2010

at the Ontological Theater at St. Mark’s Church
131 East 10th Street (at 2nd Ave.), NYC

Featuring: Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen,
Monique Vukovic & Michael Cyril Creighton

Set Design by Laura Jellinek
Lighting Design by Mike Riggs
Costume Design by Sydney Maresca
Sound Design by Nathan Leigh
Stage Manager: Amy Ehrenberg
Assistant Stage Manager: Shelley Miles
Assistant Director: Danielle Kourtesis
Intern: Marisa Savic

Buddy Cop 2 was made possible in part by grants from The Greenwall Foundation, The Mancini Foundation and public funds from the Fund for Creative Communities, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Production design support provided by The Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Foundation.

Photo by Ian Savage

]]> http://thedebatesociety.org/untitled-buddy-cop-play/feed/ You’re Welcome http://thedebatesociety.org/raya-promo/ http://thedebatesociety.org/raya-promo/#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:17:23 +0000 admin http://thedebatesociety.org/?p=382 You’re Welcome to be released soon by Playscripts, Inc.

]]> http://thedebatesociety.org/raya-promo/feed/ Store http://thedebatesociety.org/site-going-live/ http://thedebatesociety.org/site-going-live/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:02:09 +0000 admin http://thedebatesociety.org/?p=314 Cape Disappointment published  in the current issue of the wonderful “PLAY A JOURNAL OF PLAYS”. Visit our STORE to order.

]]> http://thedebatesociety.org/site-going-live/feed/ Cape Disappointment http://thedebatesociety.org/cape-disappointment/ http://thedebatesociety.org/cape-disappointment/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2009 08:00:00 +0000 admin http://localhost:8888/tds/?p=83

 
 


Under the brilliant and rigorous direction of Oliver Butler, the Debate Society certainly doesn’t disappoint in this bizarre but deeply winning homage to the drive-in cinema of yore.

The New Yorker


A decaying drive-in comes to life with stories of lighthouses, naughty little girls and places you imagine remembering. So sit back, relax, refrain from loud talking and rough-housing, turn off your headlights, enjoy some tasty popcorn, put litter in its place, keep an eye on your children, think about how happy we could be, and remember that this country is full of dark, dark places along dark, dark roadways where dark, dark things can happen.

The Debate Society’s fourth full-length play transforms the performance space into their own version of a drive-in theater to present an intimate and absurd perspective of classic Americana. The Brooklyn based play-makers conjure a road trip epic wherein “The lives, desires, and memories of various passengers take a number of sharp and darkly comic turns over the course of one night, dissoliving into three studies of bittersweet disenchantment.” (The New Yorker)

Joining co-writers Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen onstage is actor Michael Cyril Creighton and acclaimed NY actress, Drama Desk and two-time Obie Award winner and Emmy nominee Pamela Payton-Wright . . . who is also the mother of Cape Disappointment director Oliver Butler.

Cape Disappointment was commissioned by Performance Space 122 and premiered there in November, 2008.

]]> http://thedebatesociety.org/cape-disappointment/feed/ The Eaten Heart http://thedebatesociety.org/the-eaten-heart/ http://thedebatesociety.org/the-eaten-heart/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:00:37 +0000 admin http://thedebatesociety.org/site/?p=171
 
 


A flawless work of theater. Fresh and filled with theatrical magic. Indulge it now while you still can.

Aaron Riccio, New Theater Corps


The Debate Society’s third full-length work, The Eaten Heart is inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th century masterwork The Decameron. The essence of Boccaccio’s characters and stories flavor The Debate Society’s creation: a modern lucid dream of loneliness, longing and desire that matches The Decameron’s penchant for hilarious, erotic and occasionally gory twists. “Wizardly actors” (Gothamist) Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen seamlessly shift among over a dozen different characters seeking refuge in the anonymous security of a remote roadside motel. Their stories loop and multiply as the strangers check in and out, rendezvous, plot and then disappear again back onto the lonely highways.

The Eaten Heart was named the #3 show of 2007 by Aaron Riccio of “Show Showdown” and Hannah Bos and Nathan Leigh’s work garnered them notice as Gothamist’s Best Actress and Best Sound Design of 2007. The play opened in the spring of 2007 at Richard Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theatre in New York City and was brought to Syracuse, NY by The Red House Arts Center in September, 2008.

]]> http://thedebatesociety.org/the-eaten-heart/feed/ The Snow Hen http://thedebatesociety.org/the-snow-hen/ http://thedebatesociety.org/the-snow-hen/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:00:31 +0000 admin http://thedebatesociety.org/site/?p=164

 
 


Represents everything great about independent theatre. Performances of enormous craft, intellectual rigor and a grandly emotional pay-off. Absolutely gorgeous.

-Backstage.com


The populations of the world have been decimated in a global epidemic. Apocalyptic weather has washed civilization into the ocean. A little girl has survived… and she is growing feathers!

The Snow Hen spends her days fishing for remnants of civilization that float in with the tide, each new day unearthing memories of her vanished family. Her lonely existence is broken by a haunted wanderer, a giant survivor, who crashes into her world. They fall for each other, and then they fall apart.

Based on the Jostedalsrypa myth which emerged from the Black Death of the 14th century in Norway, The Snow Hen pairs with The Eaten Heart as two-thirds of The Debate Society’s planned “Black Plague Trilogy”. The play was developed with the help of a Sons of Norway Foundation Heritage and Culture Grant and a Chashama AREA Performing Arts Grant and premiered at The Charlie Pineapple Theater in Brooklyn, NY in February 2006.

]]> http://thedebatesociety.org/the-snow-hen/feed/ A Thought About Raya http://thedebatesociety.org/a-thought-about-raya/ http://thedebatesociety.org/a-thought-about-raya/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:00:56 +0000 admin http://localhost:8888/tds/?p=1

 
 


Stylish blend of humor, pathos, and non sequitur. Bad theater leaves me craving whiskey and reality TV. After “A Thought About Raya”, I wanted vodka and a fur hat. If that isn’t a recommendation, what is?

-Alison Hallett, The Portland Mercury


A Thought About Raya brings to the stage the violent and darkly comedic spirit of Leningrad artist Daniil Kharms, whose idiosyncratic visions and nonlinear theatrical performances led to his arrest, imprisonment, and eventual death during Stalin’s purges. In a series of colliding scenes, vibrant images and absurd turns frame this performance that is part fable, part dance, and part experience. The complex themes of love, sex, violence, and death pepper this simple story of the search for a voice in the midst of chaos.

The first collaboration of Hannah Bos, Oliver Butler and Paul Thureen, A Thought About Raya premiered in New York City in March of 2004 at the Red Room before transferring to Clemente Soto Velez. The play has toured to Portland, OR, Austin, TX, Hartford, CT and was remounted for a short run at The Brick theater in Brooklyn, NY in November, 2007.

A Thought About Raya will be performing at The Ontological-Hysteric Theater Incubator’s Other Forces Festival as a part of APAP.
Raya APAP Calendar
Click HERE for ticketing and other info.

 

]]> http://thedebatesociety.org/a-thought-about-raya/feed/ You’re Welcome. http://thedebatesociety.org/youre-welcome/ http://thedebatesociety.org/youre-welcome/#comments Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:00:41 +0000 admin http://thedebatesociety.org/site/?p=244

 
 

Noted for their “Theatrical brilliance” (Gothamist), “brilliant and rigorous direction” (The New Yorker) and performances that are “Brilliant” (Gothamist), “Brilliant” (Followspot) and “Brilliant” (Fish Under Water) . . . The Debate Society has decided to do something different. Presenting . . .

YOU’RE WELCOME.
A CYCLE OF BAD PLAYS BY THE DEBATE SOCIETY

You’re Welcome is a collection of 5 small plays about creation and failure; a unified theatrical myth that tells the story of an invented band of performers and their catastrophic attempts at connection. The plays are also about love, death, desire, tragedy, comedy, drunk driving, sexiness, beauty, loss, the battle between good and evil, a baby born wearing a hat. And theater. They’re about theater. Kind of the last word on theater. This is You’re Welcome - 5 plays that pretty much nail it. You’re welcome.

You’re Welcome was a Dixon Place Mondo Cané! Commission, made possible with generous support from NYSCA, a state agency: The Jerome Foundation: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation & the Peg Santvoord Foundation.


An hour-long celebration of theatrical sins. The company’s essential, idiosyncratic charm, embodied by effervescent lead performers Paul Thureen and Hannah Bos, remains irresistible.

Gothamist

]]> http://thedebatesociety.org/youre-welcome/feed/ Videos http://thedebatesociety.org/videos/ http://thedebatesociety.org/videos/#comments Mon, 13 Apr 2009 07:04:37 +0000 admin http://thedebatesociety.org/?p=529 Check out our Cape Disappointment and A Thought About Raya promo videos.

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