PRESS /
Founded in 2001 by Steven Cosson, The Civilians is an investigative theater company, creating new work from the creative exploration of real life. Working with a dynamic combination of journalism and art, The Civilians creates theatrical events that promote an inquisitive curiosity about the world and an engagement with the most vital questions of the present.
The Civilians has created nine original works that have been produced Off Broadway and in over 40 cities nationally and internationally, at theaters such as The Public Theater, Center Theatre Group, La Jolla Playhouse, A.R.T., HBO's US Comedy Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival, London's Soho Theatre, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Fringe First Award, 2006).
The company's recent work, This Beautiful City enjoyed a critically-acclaimed Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theater in 2009 receiving Lucille Lortel, Drama League, and Drama Desk nominations and the long-running hit Gone Missing ran for seven months at Off-Broadway's Barrow Street Theater and was cited by The New York Times as one of the "10 Best Plays of 2007."
Playscripts recently published The Civilians: An Anthology of Six Plays. Gone Missing and This Beautiful City have been published by Dramatists Play Service. The Civilians received an Obie in 2004 in recognition of its accomplishments in its first two seasons of work.
"The Civilians... has demonstrated impressive longevity in an environment increasingly inhospitable to small nonprofits. The secret to their success might very well be their refusal to be pigeonholed, defying expectations with every new production." - Stage Directions
For further information please contact Marion Friedman at (718) 230-3330
Website Photo Credits:
David Gochfeld, Tom Kimmell, Adrian Kinloch, Alix Lambert, Leslie Lyons, Michael S. Nolan, Sheldon Noland, Carol Rosegg, Manuel Rotenberg, Craig Schwartz, Aaron Wesner, and the Artists
The Civilians' Company Description: Download PDF
HIGHLIGHTED FEATURES
- Stage Directions: "defying expectations with every new production"
- Time Out New York: "a... docu-theatrical troupe that could use a high-profile platform"
- Variety: "Civilians take a unique approach"
- Village Voice: "Off-Broadway's Leading Lights"
- New York Times: "Collaboration in the Catskills"
- New York Times: "The Civilians have carved out their own aesthetic niche"
- Village Voice: "The Civilians was awarded a prestigious Village Voice OBIE grant"
- American Theatre Magazine: "Steve Cosson's Civilians more or less invented the genre [of "documentary cabaret"]"
PRODUCTION HIGHLIGHTS
- Brooklyn at Eye Level /
New York Magazine: "Highbrow and brilliant." - This Beautiful City /
Variety: "Wicked smart. Laughter turns to slack-jawed astonishment." - Gone Missing /
New York Times: "fresh, breezy and very funny indeed, pretty much the perfect summer entertainment" - Nobody's Lunch /
The Scotsman: "Five stars...Above all, it's a piece that bristles with ideas." - Paris Commune /
San Diego Union Tribune: "the events of 1871 have strong contemporary reverberations"
CURRENT
REPERTOIRE
