1974

Off-Off-Broadway veteran playwright Doric Wilson, cabaret star Billy Blackwell and director Peter del Valle started the first professional gay theater company in NYC. It was called The Other Side of Silence or TOSOS, for short.

 

2002

Directors Mark Finley and Barry Childs and Wilson (the only surviving founder) resurrected the company, which had gone into hibernation in 1979.

 

2004

TOSOS was honored by inclusion in the new permanent theater 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.

 

2011

Founder Doric Wilson passed away.

​

2017

A Board of Directors, with Michael Zegarski as its first president, was formed in response to the increasing undermining of LGBTQIA+ rights by policies implemented by governing authorities, both nationally and locally. The new working board helped to establish operational stability for the company.

 

2018

Entered into an anchor partnership with The Flea Theatre that finally gave TOSOS a steady home for productions.

​

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.

​

2020

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, TOSOS suspended activities after their award-winning production of Jewelle Gomez's, Leaving The Blues.