In tandem with our theatre for social improvement work, Bond Street Theatre creates entertaining and relevant performances that exemplify theatre's ability to cross cultural borders and address the social and environmental issues that affect us all, presenting work at major festivals, theatres, and universities worldwide.
The company draws on our signature physical, visual, and musical vocabulary in devising each piece, so that they easily communicate across language and culture. The ensemble has trained in the physical and gestural arts of many traditions to develop a theatrical style that is captivating and understandable everywhere, by drawing on the symbols and rituals that give life its shape and dynamics, and complementing them with striking theatrical forms such as acrobatics, masks, stilts, music, puppetry, and dance. Performances are often created in collaboration with international arts groups.
A selection of places in which Bond Street has presented its work:
Israel Festival, Jerusalem
Asia meets Asia Festival, Tokyo, Japan
Children First Festival, Singapore
Kabul Theatre Festival, Afghanistan
Festival al Aire Puro, Bogota, Colombia
Meppel Festival, Netherlands (First Prize)
CentreStage Festival, Mumbai, India
Sibiu Int’l Theatre Festival, Romania
Cena Contemporanea, Brasilia, Brazil
Dublin Theatre Festival, Ireland
Kim Tom Festival, Shanghai, China
Koln Summer Festival, Koln, Germany
Kathmandu International Theatre Festival, Nepal
Festival Internationale de Teatro de Oriente, Venezuela
MIMOS Festival, Perigieux, France
Gyula Summer Festival, Gyula, Hungary
Int’l Festival of New & Alternative Theatre, Novi Sad, Serbia
International Youth Theatre Festival, Ordu, Turkey
International Theatre Festival, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
UN Conference on Women, Beijing, China
Women in Comedy Festival, Arhus, Denmark
La Piazza Festival, Augsburg, Germany
Karavaan Festival, Netherlands
Sziget Festival, Budapest, Hungary
A selection of Bond Street Theatre's mainstage shows:
Bhopal
In 2012, Bond Street Theatre partnered with Epic Actor’s Workshop of New Jersey to present Bhopal by Rahul Varma. The production addressing the 1984 environmental disaster and its aftermath toured to the South Asian Theatre Festival (US), the NCPA Centrestage Festival (India), the Kathmandu International Theatre Festival (Nepal), and the Natyamela International Drama Festival (India).
Bond Street Theatre partnered with Exile Theatre of Afghanistan in the first ever US-Afghan theatre collaboration to create Beyond the Mirror in 2005. The production wove myths, memories, family histories, and first-hand accounts of war with traditional dances, live music, and filmed montages to tell desperate and hopeful stories of Afghanistan.
Bond Street Theatre Managing Director Michael McGuigan wrote and directed The Mechanical in 2009, which was presented in New York and Baltimore. The Mechanical transports the outcast creature from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein into the true story of a sensational chess-playing robot of the 18th century, bringing to life an age of revolutions and the conflicts between science, art, and religion.
Bond Street Theatre collaborated with Theatre Tsvete, an award-winning Bulgarian puppet theatre company, to create the non-verbal Romeo and Juliet. The play combines Tsvete’s puppetry and the physical style of Bond Street Theatre to vividly depict the tragedy of neighbor against neighbor and the situation of young people in many parts of the world today who are confronting the choice between love and violence. The production was first presented in war-scarred theatres throughout Kosovo, and has since toured Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and the USA.
Cozmic Jazz - A Short History of the Universe is a satiric story about humanity- and a comic commentary on “the meaning of life.” A blend of dance, music, acrobatics, and comedy, the play abounds with curious characters and captivating imagery accompanied by compelling rhythms and great jazz. Cozmiz Jazz has been presented at major festivals in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, Venezuela, Singapore, Hungary, and the US.
WERK is a visual, physical, and musical exploration of working, focusing on the rhythms, dynamics, emotions, textures, poetry, flavor, and materials of work (fabric, grain, water, paper, and other tangibles). The production pays attention to labor which does not get acknowledged, and pays homage to human self-sufficiency and resourcefulness.