For almost 40 years, Bond Street Theatre hasn’t just focused on social justice, peace-building, and women’s rights in the face of gender-based violence; they’ve taken their work directly to communities that need it, making theatre in amid military regimes, post-war periods, natural disasters, and in places of conflict like Kosovo refugee camps during the Balkans wars and women’s prisons in Afghanistan. But with foreign aid setbacks—from the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) finalized as of July 1, to President Trump’s July 24 bill signing to cancel $9 billion that had been approved for in foreign aid and public broadcasting funding—Bond Street has recently had to pivot in big ways, including bringing some of their work back home to the U.S.
This year, three of the New York-based theatre’s major international projects amplifying women facing gender-based violence, migrants, refugees, and youth voices in Jordan, Myanmar, and Turkey were cancelled as the U.S. government terminated all arts and human rights programs abroad. On Jan. 30, they received an executive order from the U.S. Embassy to eliminate all references to DEI for a grant that had already been approved, “Theatre for Gender Equality in Jordan”; this was followed by a Feb. 5 letter telling them to resubmit all materials with modifications; a Feb. 26 letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s office terminating their award; and a March 6 termination letter from the U.S. Embassy in Jordan.
“It was such a shock to all of us, and certainly difficult to explain to our partners, who thought that the U.S. would never terminate a program mid-project,” artistic director Joanna Sherman said in an interview. “They said, ‘America wouldn’t do this.’ Well, now America does.” She continued: “This kind of activity is shattering our already tenuous reputation around the world. People have the idea the U.S. is greedy; this put the nail in the coffin. It said, America is greedy and selfish and bullies.”
Once the shock wore off, Bond Street had to go back to all the groups they’d interviewed and auditioned for their SheFestival, which would have taken six devised plays about women’s rights all over Jordan, and would in fact be starting right about now. Thanks to aid cuts, it won’t happen.
“To disappoint all these young people, it breaks my heart,” Sherman said. “Theatre is good for two things: It’s a great way to get information to the public. The second thing is, theatre training is empowering: body language, how to speak in public, speak your mind, leadership, and collaboration. The impact of that kind of work is what they’ve lost.”
The company is preparing to continue collaborations and fundraising, even as foreign aid programs slowly come back “with a very different focus,” as Sherman put it. “As Marco Rubio says, the new U.S. mantra is ‘Trade not Aid.’ He misses the reality that people need healthcare, food, education, basic rights, and a living before they can think about trade.”
As Bond Street continues to apply for grants, its staff has had to adjust language. They can still say “women,” but they can’t say “underserved” or “marginalized.” In proposals for upcoming programs in South Africa, Myanmar, and Turkey, they’ve framed their work as promoting entrepreneurship, youth empowerment, and leadership skills, and offered mock interviews as part of the training. But then, Sherman said, “What we speak about when we get there is up to them. We have to reframe theatre as leadership and how it leads to getting a job; it’s really giving people tools to speak out on their own behalf. Advocacy skills are theatrical skills and leadership skills. It was a matter not talking about inequality as much as empowering yourself; the end project of course is equality, so we don’t feel we’re compromising.”
The in-limbo projects they’re now fundraising for include a collaboration with Thukhuma Khayeeth Theatre in Myanmar, designed to bring youth together in a safe space to express themselves, despite the nation’s repressive military regime; a partnership with Rape Crisis Trust in which they will return to Cape Town, South Africa, for “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” in November; and an initiative in Turkey with Lider Kadin Dernegi, similar to the Jordan project, that involves working with young women and men in Mardin near the Syrian border.
In the meantime, this summer, the troupe has appeared at neighborhood events in New York via their Shinbone Alley Stilt Band—a jazz band “rocking ethnic tunes” of varieties on stilts. And they’re busy writing a book, a blend of memories, travelogues, training manuals, recipes, and answers to such FAQs as, “What happens if you have to go to the bathroom in a refugee camp?”
In the work they’re doing in the U.S., Bond Street has partnered with local programs for suicide prevention and domestic violence, such as Rape Crisis Trust, who they’ve also worked with in South Africa.
“There are opportunities here we maybe didn’t pay as much attention to because we try to go to places where we can fill in a gap,” Sherman said. “In Kazakhstan, this kind of social theatre was very new. In Afghanistan, some had never seen TV or theatre, it was like reinventing it. Some had really rich history, like South Africa.”
According to managing director Michael McGuigan, the idea behind of bringing the company’s “theatre of war” techniques home stemmed from conversations over the last few years, and wasn’t due only to the recent cuts. Doing this work at home can still be scary, he noted—and just as urgent.
“Rather than giving up hope, I’m realizing there’s a hole to fill,” he said. “Overseas we talk to people with disparate points of view and we have to rely on people speaking English or having really good translators. We can make ourselves understood without creating more conflict. In Kentucky, everyone speaks English and is ready to say what they think.”
Bond Street Theatre has shown for decades that theatre can empower, unite, and uplift struggling communities. Now it’s also showing how even theatres that are doing that necessary work can be struggling themselves, and also need help. As intern Sawyer Dahlen wrote on the company’s blog in May, “One thing is certain: BST is not giving up on its mission to use the arts to make the world a better place.”
Daniella Ignacio, a writer, theatre artist, and musician based in Washington, D.C., is a contributing editor of this magazine.
