The Debate Society is one of the most fascinating, funny theater companies in town: Q.E.D. Comprised of Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen (who do most of the writing and performing) and Oliver Butler (who does all of the directing), the trio creates idiosyncratic, unclassifiable plays that use slightly naturalistic narrative as a springboard into highly unconventional, spellbinding productions. Their buzzed-about 2006 production, The Snow Hen, took a Norwegian folk tale about an abandoned girl and wove it into a charmingly dark tapestry of melancholy and mystique; the next year they mesmerized us with The Eaten Heart, an unforgettably atmospheric play very loosely inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th Century tome The Decameron. more ›

The tagline for The Debate Society's latest deluxe little production, Buddy Cop 2, tells you a lot about their whimsical sensibility: "Nothing is what it seems. Or is it?" Set in the small (fictional) town of Shandon, Indiana in the early-'80s, the strange story revolves around a local police station, which was relocated to the recreation center after a devastating flood. As such, there is a racquetball court behind the makeshift office, where two of the cops (the titular buddies?) pass much of the time. Laura Jellinek's impressive set is a triumph of naturalistic detail, down to the prized collection of exotic beer cans seized by the cops during open container stops. more ›

The most exciting story in New York theater this year had nothing to do with the Broadway stagehands' strike, it was the vibrant growth of what used to be called “experimental theater”, a movement that can now really only loosely be defined by what it’s not: non-naturalistic and not made for TV, with an emphasis on bold physicality, collaboration and, sometimes, multimedia. more ›

We'll be liveblogging the MTVU Woodie Awards tonight (hopefully Jared Leto won't break our blogging fingers) -- if you're looking for something else to do though, here are some suggestions... READING: Spend an evening with Global City Review contributors Linsey Abrams, Fred Tuten, and Michelle Yasmine Valladare. The publication "celebrates the difficulties and possibilities of the 'global city' and other constructions of community...while honoring the subversiveness and originality of ordinary lives," and reflects on New... more ›

The Debate Society is a taut little theater triad comprised of director Oliver Butler and wizardly actors Paul Thureen and Hannah Bos. Their 2006 production, The Snow Hen, took a Norwegian folk tale about an abandoned girl and wove it into a charmingly dark tapestry of melancholy and mystique. Now they’re back at the Ontological Theater (Richard Foreman’s regular digs) with The Eaten Heart, an enchanting mood-play very loosely inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th Century tome The Decameron, which packs in 100 stories told over the course of ten days by ten people killing time during the Black Plague. more ›

THEATER: The Debate Society's "Snow Hen" was a quirky, dreamy take on an old Scandinavian folk tale about the Black Death; now, in "The Eaten Heart," the talented trio of Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen, and Oliver Butler riff on an Italian view of the plague, Boccaccio's bawdy classic Decameron http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decameron as the second part of a plague trilogy. This is a workshop production, so while the group's work always seems fresh and engagingly inchoate, here you get to see it while it is that and then some (and with less expensive tickets!). - Mallory Jensen more ›

On Sundays Gothamist runs opinion pieces relevant to life in New York and reviews of recent books and performances. The judgments expressed below are entirely those of the author. more ›