Off-off-Broadway

The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as a "complete rejection of commercial theatre".{{Sfn | Viagas | 2004 | p = 72}} Michael Smith gives credit for the term's coinage to Jerry Tallmer in 1960.{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Michael |title=The Good Scene: Off Off-Broadway |journal=The Tulane Drama Review |date=1966 |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=159–176 |doi=10.2307/1125218|jstor=1125218 }} Among the first venues for what would soon be called "off-off-Broadway" theatre were coffeehouses in Greenwich Village, particularly the Caffe Cino at 31 Cornelia Street, operated by the eccentric Joe Cino, who early on took a liking to actors and playwrights and agreed to let them stage plays there without bothering to read the plays first, or to even find out much about the content. This DIY aesthetic also led to creative acts of object repurposing by playwrights and directors, who cobbled together sets from materials scavenged from local streets.{{sfn|Malewitz|2014|p=51}} Also integral to the rise of off-off-Broadway were Ellen Stewart at La MaMa, and Al Carmines at Judson Poets Theatre, located at Judson Memorial Church. Other theaters of note that presented many plays were Theatre Genesis, New York Theatre Ensemble,{{cite news| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hscDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA13 |title=In and Around Town|editor1-first=Ruth|editor1-last=Gilbert |work= New York Magazine|date=March 2, 1970 |access-date=March 28, 2015|page=13|volume=3|issue=9}} The Old Reliable,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_9ZxU0p7yYC&pg=PA292 |title=Playing Underground: A Critical History of the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway Movement |first1= Stephen James |last1=Bottoms |publisher=The University of Michigan Press |date= 2004|location=Ann Arbor, MI|page=292|access-date=March 28, 2015|isbn=978-0-472-03194-8| doi=10.3998/mpub.22965}} The Dove Company, The Playwrights Workshop,{{cite web|url=http://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/archivalcollections/pdf/thepatri.pdf |title=Robert Patrick Papers : ca. 1940-1984|publisher=New York Public Library |access-date=December 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710010319/https://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/archivalcollections/pdf/thepatri.pdf| archive-date=July 10, 2018|date=May 2004|last1=Winters|first1=Jennifer L.}} and Workshop of the Players Art.{{cite news |last1=Berman |first1=Audrey |title=Christopher Lloyd! Stacy Keach! Jessica Tandy! It's the 1973 Obies! |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/05/03/christopher-lloyd-stacy-keach-jessica-tandy-its-the-1973-obies |access-date=December 3, 2018 |work=The Village Voice |date=May 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710010213/https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/05/03/christopher-lloyd-stacy-keach-jessica-tandy-its-the-1973-obies/ |archive-date=July 10, 2018|orig-year=May 24, 1973}}

At its coalescence, off-off-Broadway was known for its experimental nature. Brooks McNamara wrote that over time, off-off-Broadway work lost some of its experimental spirit, instead beginning to imitate the "characteristics of off-Broadway, which had gradually moved toward reshaping itself in the image of Broadway, though often producing works that were unsuitable for commercial theatre."{{cite journal|last1=McNamara|first1=Brooks|author-link1=Brooks McNamara|title=Broadway: A Theatre Historian's Perspective|journal=The Drama Review|date=2001|volume=45|issue=4|pages=125–128|doi=10.1162/105420401772990360|s2cid=57571738}}

An off-off-Broadway production that features members of the Actors' Equity Association may be an Equity Showcase production intended to allow actors to be seen by potential future employers. Equity maintains union rules about working in such productions, including restrictions on price of tickets, the length of the run, and rehearsal times.{{cite web |title=Resources – Contracts & Codes – NY Showcase |url=https://www.actorsequity.org/resources/contracts/Showcase-NY/ |website=Actors' Equity Association |access-date=11 December 2019}} Professional actors' participation in showcase productions is frequent and comprises the bulk of stage work for the majority of New York actors. There has been an ongoing movement to revise the Equity Showcase Code, which many in the community find overly restrictive and detrimental to the creation of New York theatre.{{cite news|first1=Garrett |last1=Eisler |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0735,eisler,77610,11.html |title=Breaking the Code? |work=The Village Voice |date=August 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109084522/http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0735,eisler,77610,11.html|archive-date=November 9, 2007|access-date=December 3, 2018}}

In 1964, off-off-Broadway productions were made eligible for Obie Awards, and in 1974, the Drama Desk Awards began evaluating such productions with the same criteria as it used for Broadway and off-Broadway productions.{{cite web |url=http://awards.dramadesk.org/about.html |title=About the Drama Desk Awards |publisher=Drama Desk Awards |access-date=March 28, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325074058/http://awards.dramadesk.org/about.html |archive-date=March 25, 2015 |df=mdy-all }} Since 2005, the New York Innovative Theatre Awards (NYIT Awards or IT Awards) have annually honored individuals and organizations that have achieved artistic excellence in off-off-Broadway theatre.[https://www.nyitawards.com/about "About The New York Innovative Theatre Awards"], New York Innovative Theatre Awards, accessed November 2021

The term indie theatre, or independent theatre, was suggested as an alternative for "off-off-Broadway" by playwright Kirk Bromley during a speech at the 2005 New York Innovative Theatre Awards.{{cite book |last1=Istel |first1=John |editor1-last=Jenkins |editor1-first=Jeffrey Eric |title=The Best Plays Theater Yearbook 2005-2006 |date=2007 |publisher=Limelight Editions |location=New York |isbn=978-0879103460 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bestplaystheater00jeff_1/page/261 261] |chapter=The Season Off Off Broadway |chapter-url-access=registration |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/bestplaystheater00jeff_1/page/261 }}

• Broadway theatre
• Off-Broadway

{{Reflist}}

• {{Citation | last = Bottoms | first = Stephen J | year = 2004 | title = Playing Underground: A Critical History of the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway Movement | place = Ann Arbor | publisher = University of Michigan Press | isbn = 0-472-03194-5}}.
• {{Citation | last = Curley | first = Mallory | year = 2013 | title = Tales of Off Off Broadway | publisher = Randy Press}}.
• {{Cite book | last = Malewitz | first = Raymond | year = 2014 | title = The Practice of Misuse: Rugged Consumerism in Contemporary American Culture | location=Palo Alto, CA | publisher = Stanford University Press | isbn = 9780804791960|doi=10.11126/stanford/9780804791960.001.0001}}
• {{Citation | last = Viagas | first = Robert | year = 2004 | title = The Back Stage Guide to Broadway | place = New York | publisher = Back Stage | isbn = 0-8230-8809-X}}.

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070814012322/http://www.nyitawards.org/ New York Innovative Theatre Award], an awards and advocacy group for independent theater
• [http://www.litny.org/ League of Independent Theater]
• [http://www.offoffonline.com/ Off off online.]

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Category:1958 establishments in New York City

Category:Theatre in New York City