OUR HISTORY

The very first production of TOSOS' signature show, Doric Wilson’s Street Theater, at the Mineshaft Bar. NYC, 1983. L to R: Casey Wayne, Peter Boruchowitz, Robert Patrick, Carol Nelson, Julia Dares, and Philip Blackwell.

In 1974, Off-Off Broadway veteran Doric Wilson, cabaret star Billy Blackwell and director Peter dell Valle, started the first professional gay theatre company in NYC. It was called The Other Side of Silence; TOSOS for short. In 2002, directors Mark Finley and Barry Childs and playwright Wilson resurrected the company, which had gone into hibernation in 1977, as “TOSOS II,” re-establishing its mission as a theatre company dedicated to an honest and open exploration of the life experience and cultural sensibility of the LGBTQ+ community and to preserving and promoting our literary past in a determined effort to keep our theatrical heritage alive.

In 2004, TOSOS was honored by inclusion in the new permanent theatre exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. In 2007, founder Doric Wilson received the New York Innovative Theatre Award for Artistic Achievement. In 2009, Artistic Director Mark Finley decided to take the company back to its origins, rebranding it TOSOS – The Other Side of Silence. In 2017, a Board of Directors was formed in response to the increasing undermining of LGBTQ+ rights by policies implemented by governing authorities, nationally and locally. Shoring up the operational capability of the company, the new board, a working body, helped to establish an operational stability highlighted by an anchor partnership with The Flea Theater, a renowned Off-Off Broadway company in NYC which had recently moved to a brand new location and facilities. The Flea partnership finally gave TOSOS a steady home for productions. In 2019, TOSOS was awarded the prestigious Caffe Cino Fellowship Award by the New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, recognizing TOSOS’ consistently strong work in Off-Off Broadway.

In addition to producing two full-length plays a season, the company curates a free play-reading series named after playwrights Robert Chesley and Jane Chambers. The Chesley/Chambers Playwrights Project not only provides LGBTQIA+ artists a much needed first hearing of original work, it is a platform to “re-hear” important pieces of the established LGBTQIA+ literary canon, which are often ignored by mainstream theatre outlets. This series also acts as a pipeline to future premiere productions as well as revivals of previously produced works. This series is a central component in our community/family-building effort, which also includes free holiday events in winter and spring. TOSOS seeks to provide a community for LGBTQIA+ and ally actors, writers, creatives, as well as our audiences.