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The Debate Society is a
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, New York-based devised theatre company founded by Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen, and Oliver Butler in 2004. The company's first show, ''A Thought About Raya'', began as Bos and Thureen's senior thesis at
Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
, where they met. Focusing on intensive research, the group has since added a variety of designers to its roster and has produced nine shows since its founding.


History

Hannah Bos of
Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
, and Paul Thureen who was raised near
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, met at
Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
and first performed in a play together during their sophomore year. The pair dated during college and ended their relationship in what Bos described as a "terrible breakup". They studied abroad together (at the National Theater Institute and in Russia) and cowrote their senior thesis, a play called ''A Thought About Raya'' before graduating in 2000. The company's third member, Oliver Butler, "didn't go to Vassar, but ..wish d edid", according to Butler himself. While Butler, a
University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...
graduate, was involved at a battle of the bands at the college in 1998, he didn't meet Bos and Thureen until 2003 when he attended a reading of ''A Thought About Raya'' at the Drama Book Shop in
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. He approached Bos and Thureen immediately after the presentation and declared that he wanted to work with them, an idea about which the pair was initially hesitant. During a two-month trial period, Butler challenged Bos and Thureen's established group dynamic by requiring them to articulate to him their ideas which the pair ultimately found to be useful to their process. The company proper came into being in 2004 and is based in
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. They have worked with designers such as
set designer Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly train ...
Laura Jellinek,
costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costume ...
Sydney Maresca,
lighting designer In theatre, a lighting designer (or LD) works with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create the lighting, atmosphere, and time of day for the production in response to the text while keeping ...
Mike Riggs, and
sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating sound tracks for a variety of needs. It involves specifying, acquiring or creating auditory elements using audio production techniques and tools. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including ...
ers Ben Truppin-Brown and M.L. Dogg.


Process and style

The Debate Society is a devised theater company. Their name came as a product of their process which is research intensive; Bos described it as "a nerdy way of working". Bos, Butler, and Thureen begin the process of play-creation by fleshing out a world in which each story takes place. They then find some element of that world that excites them and attempt to theatricalize that element. Their theatermaking process includes acting exercises, listmaking, and intensive research.
Experimental theater Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu plays as a rejection of both the age in particular ...
director John Collins described the aesthetic of the company's works as having "filmic ambition". In ''
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'', Jason Zinoman wrote that The Debate Society's shows felt "uncannily familiar and teasingly mysterious at the same time."


Works

* ''The Light Years'' (
Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. Under the ...
, 2017) * ''Jacuzzi'' ( Ars Nova, 2014) * ''Blood Play'' (Bushwick Starr, 2012) * ''Buddy Cop 2'' (
Ontological-Hysteric Theater Richard Foreman (born June 10, 1937 in New York City) is an American avant-garde playwright and the founder of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater. Achievements and awards Foreman has written, directed and designed over fifty of his own plays, b ...
, 2010) * ''You're Welcome: A Cycle of Bad Plays'' ( The Brick Theater, 2010) ** Includes ''We Got a Fog Machine'', ''What a Scary Cemetery!'', ''Is That Sharks in That Smoldering Moat?!'', ''Little Cat Feet'', and ''A Thought About Ryan''. * ''Cape Disappointment'' (
Performance Space 122 Performance Space New York, formerly known as Performance Space 122 or P.S. 122, is a non-profitable arts organization founded in 1980 in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan in an abandoned public school building. Origin The former eleme ...
, 2008) * ''The Eaten Heart'' (Ontological-Hysteric Theater, 2007) * ''The Snow Hen'' (Charlie Pineapple Theater, 2006) * ''A Thought About Raya'' (Red Room, 2004)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debate Society, The 2004 establishments in New York City Performing groups established in 2004 Vassar College alumni Theatre Ensemble in New York City