{{short description|Theater company based in New York, NY}} {{Infobox theatre group | name = The Debate Society | image = The Debate Society logo.png | image_size = | caption = The Debate Society's logo | formed = 2004 | type = Theater company | disbanded = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | genre = Devised theater | location = Brooklyn, New York, US | num_members = {{plainlist|*Hannah Bos *Paul Thureen *Oliver Butler}} | ArtisticDirector = | notable = | website = {{URL|thedebatesociety.org/}} }} '''The Debate Society''' is a Brooklyn, New York-based devised theater 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, 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, and Paul Thureen who was raised near East Grand Forks, Minnesota,<ref name=eagle>{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Jenn|title=Theater group The Debate Society brings new play to Nikos stage|url=http://www.berkshireeagle.com/the413/ci_23819037/theater-group-debate-society-brings-new-play-nikos|accessdate=December 8, 2014|work=The Berkshire Eagle|date=August 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828214242/http://www.berkshireeagle.com/the413/ci_23819037/theater-group-debate-society-brings-new-play-nikos|archive-date=August 28, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> met at Vassar College and first performed in a play together during their sophomore year.<ref name=roomvass>{{cite web|last1=Bronski|first1=Peter|title=Room for Debate|url=http://alums.vassar.edu/publications/newsletter/issues/2011/10/room-for-debate.html|website=This Is Vassar: The eNewsletter for Alumnae/i & Families|publisher=Vassar College|accessdate=December 7, 2014|date=October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330125253/https://www.vassar.edu/alumsdigest/issues/2011/10/room-for-debate.html|archive-date=March 30, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> The pair dated during college and ended their relationship in what Bos described as a "terrible breakup".<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|last1=Zinoman|first1=Jason|title=Old Friends Whose Past Is Always Present|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/theater/hannah-bos-paul-thureen-and-oliver-butler-of-debate-society.html|accessdate=December 7, 2014|work=The New York Times|date=September 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116040748/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/theater/hannah-bos-paul-thureen-and-oliver-butler-of-debate-society.html|archive-date=January 16, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name=roomvass />
The company's third member, Oliver Butler, "didn't go to Vassar, but [...] wish[ed] [he] did", according to Butler himself.<ref name=roomvass /> While Butler, a University of Connecticut graduate,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rizzo|first1=Frank|title=Wesleyan Giving Michael Price, Lin-Manuel Miranda Honorary Degrees|url=http://www.courant.com/entertainment/behind-the-curtain/hc-rizzo-ticker-0201-20150201-story.html|accessdate=March 11, 2015|work=Hartford Courant|date=January 29, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923210958/http://www.courant.com/entertainment/behind-the-curtain/hc-rizzo-ticker-0201-20150201-story.html|archive-date=September 23, 2015}}</ref> was involved at a battle of the bands at the college in 1998,<ref name=roomvass /> he did not meet Bos and Thureen until 2003<ref name=eagle /> when he attended a reading of ''A Thought About Raya'' at the Drama Book Shop in New York City.<ref name=lmag>{{cite news|title=Ten Young Artists You Should Know: The Debate Society|url=http://www.thelmagazine.com/2010/09/ten-young-artists-you-should-know/6/|accessdate=December 7, 2014|work=The L Magazine|date=September 1, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019041020/http://www.thelmagazine.com/newyork/ten-young-artists-you-should-know/Content?oid=1731224&storyPage=6|archive-date=October 19, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name=nyt /> 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.<ref name=nyt /> The company proper came into being in 2004 and is based in Brooklyn, New York City. They have worked with designers such as set designer Laura Jellinek, costume designer Sydney Maresca, lighting designer Mike Riggs, and sound designers Ben Truppin-Brown and M.L. Dogg.<ref name=eagle />
==Process and style== The Debate Society is a devised theater company.<ref name=bestof2010>{{cite news|title=Best Argument for Devised Theater New York 2010 - The Debate Society|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/bestof/2010/award/best-argument-for-devised-theater-2167611/|accessdate=December 9, 2014|work=The Village Voice|date=2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504072657/http://www.villagevoice.com/bestof/2010/award/best-argument-for-devised-theater-2167611/|archive-date=May 4, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Their name came as a product of their process which is research intensive; Bos described it as "a nerdy way of working".<ref name=nyt /> 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.<ref name=eagle /> Their theatermaking process includes acting exercises, listmaking, and intensive research.<ref name=nyt />
Experimental theater director John Collins described the aesthetic of the company's works as having "filmic ambition".<ref name=nyt /> In ''The New York Times'', Jason Zinoman wrote that The Debate Society's shows felt "uncannily familiar and teasingly mysterious at the same time."<ref name=nyt />
==Works== * ''A Thought About Raya'' (Red Room, 2004)<ref>{{cite web|last1=Manson|first1=Caden|title=Highlights: Festival Overload (NYC)|url=http://contemporaryperformance.com/2010/01/03/highlights-festival-overload-nyc/|website=Contemporary Performance|publisher=Big Art Group|accessdate=March 3, 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623035326/http://contemporaryperformance.com/2010/01/03/highlights-festival-overload-nyc/|archivedate=June 23, 2012|date=January 3, 2010}}</ref> * ''The Snow Hen'' (Charlie Pineapple Theater, 2006)<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jensen |first1=Mallory |title=Theater Review: The Snow Hen |url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/theater-review-the-snow-hen |access-date=March 30, 2022 |work=Gothamist |date=February 12, 2006|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330130916/https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/theater-review-the-snow-hen |archive-date=March 30, 2022}}</ref> * ''The Eaten Heart'' (Ontological-Hysteric Theater, 2007)<ref name=gothamEH>{{cite news|last1=Del Signore|first1=John|title=Opinionist: The Eaten Heart|url=http://gothamist.com/2007/06/03/opinionist_the_20.php|accessdate=March 2, 2015|work=Gothamist|date=June 3, 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229035626/http://gothamist.com/2007/06/03/opinionist_the_20.php|archivedate=December 29, 2010}}</ref> * ''Cape Disappointment'' (Performance Space 122, 2008)<ref name=pbCD>{{cite news|last1=Jones|first1=Kenneth|title=Drive-In Movies Conjured in Debate Society Premiere ''Cape Disappointment'', Starting Nov. 22 in NYC|url=https://www.playbill.com/article/drive-in-movies-conjured-in-debate-society-premiere-cape-disappointment-starting-nov-22-in-nyc-com-155458|accessdate=March 30, 2022|work=Playbill|date=November 21, 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513163414/https://www.playbill.com/article/drive-in-movies-conjured-in-debate-society-premiere-cape-disappointment-starting-nov-22-in-nyc-com-155458|archive-date=May 13, 2021}}</ref> * ''You're Welcome: A Cycle of Bad Plays'' (The Brick Theater, 2010)<ref name=VVYW>{{cite news|last1=Soloski|first1=Alexis|title=''You're Welcome: A Cycle of Bad Plays'' Is Pretty Good|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-02-16/theater/you-re-welcome-a-cycle-of-bad-plays-is-pretty-good/full/|accessdate=March 3, 2015|work=The Village Voice|date=February 16, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223163311/http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-02-16/theater/you-re-welcome-a-cycle-of-bad-plays-is-pretty-good/|archive-date=February 23, 2010}}</ref> ** 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''.<ref name=VVYW /> * ''Buddy Cop 2'' (Ontological-Hysteric Theater, 2010)<ref name=nytbc2>{{cite news|last1=Zinoman|first1=Jason|title=Police Station Chemistry: She's New, and He's a Flirt|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/theater/reviews/04buddy.html|accessdate=February 27, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=June 3, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114185654/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/theater/reviews/04buddy.html|archive-date=January 14, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> * ''Blood Play'' (Bushwick Starr, 2012)<ref name=nytBP>{{cite news|last1=La Rocco|first1=Claudia|title=High Jinks Draw Neighbors Away From Their 1950s Suburban Worldview|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/theater/reviews/debate-societys-blood-play-at-bushwick-starr.html|accessdate=March 2, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=October 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506024058/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/theater/reviews/debate-societys-blood-play-at-bushwick-starr.html|archive-date=May 6, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> * ''Jacuzzi'' (Ars Nova, 2014)<ref name="variety jacuzzi">{{cite news|last1=Stasio|first1=Marilyn|title=Off Broadway Review: The Debate Society's 'Jacuzzi'|url=https://variety.com/2014/legit/reviews/off-broadway-review-debate-society-jacuzzi-1201328791/|accessdate=February 27, 2015|work=Variety|date=October 14, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118021618/https://variety.com/2014/legit/reviews/off-broadway-review-debate-society-jacuzzi-1201328791/|archive-date=January 18, 2021}}</ref> * ''The Light Years'' (Playwrights Horizons, 2017)<ref>{{cite news|last1=Manly|first1=Lorne|title=New Works From Kirsten Childs, Debate Society Will Be Part of Playwrights Horizons Season|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/new-works-from-kirsten-childs-debate-society-will-be-part-of-playwrights-horizons-season/|accessdate=June 23, 2016|work=The New York Times|date=February 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129220040/https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/new-works-from-kirsten-childs-debate-society-will-be-part-of-playwrights-horizons-season/|archive-date=November 29, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Debate Society, The}} Category:2004 establishments in New York City Category:Performing groups established in 2004 Category:Vassar College alumni Category:Theatre ensembles in New York City