The Debate Society is a Brooklyn based company that creates new plays through the collaboration of Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen (writer/performers) and Oliver Butler (director/developer). Typically shaping a new play via a rigorous 12-18 month development process, the company specializes in creating unexpected stories set in supremely intricate, vividly theatrical worlds.

The trio’s plays include A Thought About Raya, The Snow Hen, Detroit, You’re Welcome (Dixon Place), The Eaten Heart (Ontological-Hysteric Theater) and Cape Disappointment (PS122).The company’s past tour destinations include Portland, OR, Austin, TX, Hartford, CT, Martha’s Vineyard, MA and Syracuse, NY. The work of The Debate Society has been supported by grants from NEA/chashama, The Greenwall Foundation, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The Puffin Foundation, The Sons of Norway Foundation, Fractured Atlas and The Mancini Foundation.

The Debate Society Board is: Hannah Bos, Oliver Butler, Isaac Butler, Anne Harris, Chris Mancini, Paul Thureen.

Among the better experimental companies to emerge in the past five years, the Debate Society fills a unique, shadowy niche. While the others might employ gestural vocabularies, metacabaret or high-concept lampoon, the Debate Society is carving out a body of work notable for its queasy humor and moody, haunting tableaux.

David Cote, Time Out New York