Led by Artistic Director Mark Lonergan since its initial informal launch in 1997 with the production of White/Nose/Jump (“Best in the Fringe Festival — Excellence in Theatre,” New York International Fringe Festival), Parallel Exit engages in extensive artistic programming, artist capacity building, and youth education initiatives, throughout New York City’s five boroughs, across the United States, and in countries around the world.

Inspired in equal parts by the grace of Bill Irwin and the physical narrative of Matthew Bourne — and evoking the styles of such theatrical delights as Peter and the Starcatcher, The 39 Steps, and Brief Encounter — Parallel Exit creates compelling stories that are family-friendly, cultivating art that speaks to a culturally boundless audience of any age. Productions have received both local and international praise for their inventiveness, energy, and originality, with presentations at such esteemed venues as at The New Victory Theater, The Lincoln Center Institute, 59E59 Theaters, The Duke on 42nd Street, Symphony Space, and PS 122 in New York; the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the UK (winning a Spirit of the Fringe Award); and dance festivals in Poland, Spain, Austria, and Japan. Following an extended 2014—2015 German tour in partnership with GOP Variety Arts Theatre Circuit, Parallel Exit served as the powerhouse behind Big Apple Circus’s critically-acclaimed The Grand Tour (2015) — marking the beginning of a new chapter that radiates with excitement.