How We Work

The company is on a continual search for what is universal, what is common in human expression everywhere, what is it to be human. 

Since the company’s inception, Bond Street Theatre has brought professional, relevant theatre that reaches across lingual and cultural borders to audiences worldwide. Our goal is to further cross-cultural understanding by initiating theatre projects that promote peace, and to stimulate other artists towards these ends through international collaborations and training.

Bond Street explores the relevance of the arts in conflict zones, post-war environments, and in nations where cultural diplomacy is crucially needed, and advocates for artists as spokespersons for their communities and societies. 

Creating Theatre in Conflict Zones  --  Rationale and Methodology

Bond Street Theatre’s Operating Principles:

1. The theatre arts are an effective way to disseminate practical information about crucial topics such as health and civic rights, especially to isolated and illiterate populations.

2. Theatre training is widely recognized as an effective means to improve communication skills, encourage teamwork, stimulate creative thinking and problem-solving, and provide a safe environment in which important issues can be identified, expressed, and acted upon. 

3. Theatre artists and organizations are well-placed to be valuable communicators and motivators in their communities.

Our Three-Part Model Program

How Bond Street Theatre uses creative methods to engage populations and communities:

1. The company collaborates on a peer-to-peer basis with local theatre artists and arts organizations in each region in which we work.

2. The company designs theatre-based programs to suit the needs of each target group, from street-working children to rural women to refugee populations.

3. The company trains artists, educators, trainers, parents, and other stakeholders to continue these theatre-based techniques after our departure to maximize sustainability and impact.  

How We Work

Workshops focus on expression, creativity, conflict resolution, and related skills, to improve:

• Physical expression and presentation skills: body language, posture, gesture, and voice.
• Positive group dynamics: cooperation, trust, teamwork, leadership, and group responsibility.
• Problem-solving skills: to identify issues, address conflict dynamics, and explore solutions.
• Physical challenges that build self-confidence and conquer fears: such as stilt-walking, partner balances and acrobatics.

Performances are created through a process of in-depth discussions to identify key issues, followed by a progression of structured improvisations to fully illuminate and explore each conflict. We draw on a variety of story-telling techniques to make each story captivating for all audiences: such as using a narrator to tell the story, enacting the story in mime, or using comedy to balance tragedy. 

Post-Performance Sessions: Performances are followed by structured interactive sessions with audiences to assess their understanding of the issues and solicit their recommendations for solutions to the problems presented in the play. These post-show sessions, facilitated by members of the cast, invite the audience to freely discuss the issues, and encourage audience members to join the actors on the stage to role-play and offer alternative solutions to the problems portrayed. This has proven very successful with all audiences.

"Theatre like a guiding light. If we use it correctly, it will shine good results on our society."  
​– Maryam, Afghanistan