Elevator Repair Service is a New York City-based ensemble that creates original theater pieces. ERS was founded by director John Collins in 1991 and has since created an extensive body of work that includes full-length productions and short dramatic pieces. These have been seen all over the world and have garnered awards and accolades in Europe, Australia and The United States. The company builds its work from a variety of sources that include found text, video, film, literary texts and ensemble-generated choreography. Finished productions clash hi-tech design and low-tech design and mix disparate texts and formal constructs to form live performances that are propelled by narrative, humor, pathos and controlled chaos. Since its inception in the early 1990's, ERS has cultivated a large following in New York, around the U.S. and abroad. Its award-winning shows have influenced a generation of theater-makers.