In the beginning:
It all began on October 8th 1976. Five actors/directors brainstorm in a loft on 2 Bond Street: Patrick Sciarratta, Joanna Sherman, Michael Teitelbaum, Ray Abruzzo, and Naseer El Kadi lay out the concept for an ensemble theatre company which would create new work steeped in the dynamic physical traditions of the European theatre laboratories and flavored with the unique zaniness of the American vaudeville. Our topics: social commentary and classics. Our first home was LaMama and Ellen Stewart our kind benefactor and stern critic. The first ensemble of ten (including Lisa Loving, Ann Lyon, Nameer El Kadi, Ross Quint, and Gerard Drazba) presented Kafka’s The Hunger Artist, Moliere’s The Flying Doctor, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and Lars Forsell’s Charlie McDeath at LaMama, and the ensemble’s own creation, The Myth of Erysichthon (about Westway, the mega-highway that New York City still threatens to build), which was performed in the parks during the summer.

The Timeline of Bond Street:

*October 8, 1976: Bond Street Theatre was founded by a group of physically skilled, socially concerned actors

*Christmas Eve, 1976: Bond Street Theatre’s first production at LaMama Annex

*1982: the tour from North Carolina to Vermont inspired a year spent at the cabins in the Catskills, producing A Shakespeare Party

*1984: create Israel’s first inter-ethnic theatre company made up of Jews, Arabs, and Kurds

*1987: worked with refugees in Montreal

*1990: the Bond Street Theatre received a MacArthur Award for innovative interdisciplinary and intercultural programming

*1990: presented the first political theatre in East Berlin in 50 years- just after the wall came down

*1991: worked with street children in Brazil

*1984-2010: additional programs using Theatre for Social Improvement have been conducted in Myanmar, Burma, Indonesia, Columbia, Venezuela, Mexico, Northern Ireland, and the USA

*1995: Werk went to Beijing

*1995: Bond Street Theatre performed and spoke about women’s issues at the UN Conference for Women in Beijing

*1999: immediate response to war in Kosovo, went to work in refugee camps in Kosovo and Macedonia, began working with UNICEF

*2000: we created a non-verbal Romeo and Juliet performed with Bulgarian puppet theatre, Theatre Tsvete, across Kosovo, in Serbia, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Romania, Croatia, and Bulgaria

*2001: brought creative therapy to firefighters in New York who lost loved ones on 9/11

*2002: initiated a program for children, youth, and teachers in refugee camps in Afghanistan

*2003: trained theatre students at Kabul University in theatre techniques to address local issues, improve interpersonal cooperation, and conflict transformation

*2003: formed Performing Artists for Balkan Peace, an inter-Balkan network of artists devoted to artistic exchange and dialogue as a step toward regional cooperation

*2003-2005: prepared a production in collaboration with Exile Theatre of Afghanistan about Afghan history and personal life, eventually titled Beyond the Mirror

*2005-2009: work in India and Afghanistan with over 8200 children, parents, NGO staffers, and students

*2009: Beyond the Mirror California Tour

*2009-2010: worked with groups in Burma to create and tour The Hand washing Show, inspired the creation of a new theatre group in Burma geared towards edu-tainment

*2010: beginning of Theatre for Social Development Project in Afghanistan with the help of a generous United States Institute for Peace grant

Bond Street Theatre is the recipient of a prestigious MacArthur Award for its creative interdisciplinary and intercultural programming, and has received support from the Trust for Mutual Understanding, The United States Institute for Peace, CEC—ArtsLink, the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts International, Theatre Communication Group (International Theatre Institute), the Mellon Foundation, the Princess Grace Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and others.