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The Civilians
The Civilians is an investigative theatre company in New York City founded in 2002 by Artistic Director, Steve Cosson. The plays and musicals they produce aim to "blend the real and the theatrical" by utilizing interviews, research, residencies, and community collaborations to dive into specific real-world topics.
According to Variety Magazine, The Civilians "travels far and wide researching a piece around a given subject, conducting interviews and comparing notes along the way, sometimes for years."
Artistic Director Steve Cosson founded the company in 2002 with a multi-disciplinary group of artists, including some fellow University of California-San Diego graduates. Inspiration was taken from the British Joint Stock Theatre Company, Cosson having studied under director and Joint Stock member Les Waters at UCSD. Cosson has said “I wanted to create a theater that would engage with larger social, cultural, and political realities through the eyes of real, ordinary people, or 'civilians.'” In keeping with this goal, the name of the company was derived from a vaudeville term for those not within the vaudeville community.
Since its founding in 2002, The Civilians’ projects have been produced at venues throughout New York City, including The Public Theater, Joe's Pub, St. Ann's Warehouse, 59E59 Theaters, and the Vineyard Theatre, and at theaters nationally, including The Center Theatre Group (at the Mark Taper Forum), Studio Theatre, A.R.T., La Jolla Playhouse, HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Works by the company have also toured nationally and internationally to universities, arts presenters, and festivals.
The Civilians made its UK debut with Gone Missing in 2004 at the Gate Theatre, and (I Am) Nobody’s Lunch was a Fringe First Award winner at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, leading to a London production at the Soho Theatre. The Civilians’ commercial run of Gone Missing at the Barrow Street Theatre ran for seven months and was included in several Top 10 of 2007 lists in the New York press, including critic Charles Isherwood's list in The New York Times.
In addition to its productions, The Civilians’ work has been published in a number of formats. Gone Missing was published by Dramatists Play Service in 2009, following its inclusion in the publication of (I Am) Nobody’s Lunch by Oberon Books in 2007. In 2009, Playscripts, Inc. published an anthology of all of the Civilians' works to date, excluding This Beautiful City, which was still running at The Vineyard Theater. Additionally, an original cast recording of Gone Missing was released by Ghostlight Records in 2008.
Founding Associate Artist Michael Friedman (1975–2017) was the composer and lyricist for Canard, Canard, Goose?, Gone Missing, [I Am] Nobody's Lunch, This Beautiful City, The Great Immensity, In the Footprint, Pretty Filthy, Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, Rimbaud in New York, The Abominables, and co-author of Paris Commune.
According to The Civilians' website:
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The Civilians
The Civilians is an investigative theatre company in New York City founded in 2002 by Artistic Director, Steve Cosson. The plays and musicals they produce aim to "blend the real and the theatrical" by utilizing interviews, research, residencies, and community collaborations to dive into specific real-world topics.
According to Variety Magazine, The Civilians "travels far and wide researching a piece around a given subject, conducting interviews and comparing notes along the way, sometimes for years."
Artistic Director Steve Cosson founded the company in 2002 with a multi-disciplinary group of artists, including some fellow University of California-San Diego graduates. Inspiration was taken from the British Joint Stock Theatre Company, Cosson having studied under director and Joint Stock member Les Waters at UCSD. Cosson has said “I wanted to create a theater that would engage with larger social, cultural, and political realities through the eyes of real, ordinary people, or 'civilians.'” In keeping with this goal, the name of the company was derived from a vaudeville term for those not within the vaudeville community.
Since its founding in 2002, The Civilians’ projects have been produced at venues throughout New York City, including The Public Theater, Joe's Pub, St. Ann's Warehouse, 59E59 Theaters, and the Vineyard Theatre, and at theaters nationally, including The Center Theatre Group (at the Mark Taper Forum), Studio Theatre, A.R.T., La Jolla Playhouse, HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Works by the company have also toured nationally and internationally to universities, arts presenters, and festivals.
The Civilians made its UK debut with Gone Missing in 2004 at the Gate Theatre, and (I Am) Nobody’s Lunch was a Fringe First Award winner at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, leading to a London production at the Soho Theatre. The Civilians’ commercial run of Gone Missing at the Barrow Street Theatre ran for seven months and was included in several Top 10 of 2007 lists in the New York press, including critic Charles Isherwood's list in The New York Times.
In addition to its productions, The Civilians’ work has been published in a number of formats. Gone Missing was published by Dramatists Play Service in 2009, following its inclusion in the publication of (I Am) Nobody’s Lunch by Oberon Books in 2007. In 2009, Playscripts, Inc. published an anthology of all of the Civilians' works to date, excluding This Beautiful City, which was still running at The Vineyard Theater. Additionally, an original cast recording of Gone Missing was released by Ghostlight Records in 2008.
Founding Associate Artist Michael Friedman (1975–2017) was the composer and lyricist for Canard, Canard, Goose?, Gone Missing, [I Am] Nobody's Lunch, This Beautiful City, The Great Immensity, In the Footprint, Pretty Filthy, Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, Rimbaud in New York, The Abominables, and co-author of Paris Commune.
According to The Civilians' website: