Elevator Repair Service, a theater ensemble, was founded by director John Collins
and a group of actors in 1991. Since that time, ERS has built a body of work that has
earned it a loyal following and made it one of New York’s most highly-acclaimed experimental
theater companies.
The group's theater pieces are built around a broad range of subject matter and literary forms.
They combine elements of slapstick comedy, hi-tech and lo-tech design, both literary and found text,
found objects and discarded furniture, and the group's own highly developed style of choreography.
ERS creates its performances through extended periods of collaboration. Sources for the group's work
include novels, non-fiction writings, films, plays, television programs, and various other media.
Each ERS piece is developed over the course of a season through several work-in-progress showings
to small audiences and culminates in an extended run in New York. ERS’ first show was presented in
December 1991 and since 1997, its work has toured the United States and Europe.
The company has performed at New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, Performance Space 122, The Performing Garage, HERE, The Ontological at
St. Mark's Church, The Flea, The Kitchen, and Soho Rep. Abroad, ERS
performances have been presented in Holland, Belgium, Slovenia, Austria, Norway, Germany, France,
Portugal, Switzerland, The Czech Republic, Australia, Ireland, The United Kingdom and Singapore; and, in the United States, the ensemble has been presented in Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia,
Chicago, Hanover (NH), Troy (NY), Columbus, Seattle, Minneapolis, Houston, Burlington, Washington D.C.,
Sarasota (FL) and Portland (OR).
ERS has received numerous awards including The Foundation for Contemporary Arts Theater Grant;
the Theatre Communications Group's Peter Zeisler Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement; a Guggenheim Fellowship for artistic director John Collins; Eliot Norton Awards for Outstanding Director, Outstanding Visiting Production and Oustanding Actor; Lucille Lortel Awards for Alternative Theatrical Experience and Best Director; and an Obie for Performance.
ERS is and has been supported with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts,
the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and from the New York City Department
of Cultural Affairs. The company is and has also been supported with funds from the Edward T. Cone
Foundation, The Greenwall Foundation, the Alliance of Resident Theaters-N.Y., the J.P.
Morgan-Chase Fund for Small Theatres, The Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Foundation,
Altria Group, Inc., the Mental Insight Foundation, Off-Broadway Angels,
the Foundation for
Contemporary Arts, and the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Ensemble Theatre
Collaborations Grant Program, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Theatre
Initiative, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.