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Off-off-Broadway

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The Tank,an off-off-Broadway theater inMidtown Manhattan

Off-off-Broadwaytheaters are smaller New York City theaters thanBroadwayandoff-Broadwaytheaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the professional theatre scene and as anexperimentaloravant-gardemovement of drama and theatre.[1]Over time, some off-off-Broadway productions have moved away from the movement's early experimental spirit.[2]

History

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The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as a "complete rejection of commercial theatre".[3]Michael Smith gives credit for the term's coinage to Jerry Tallmer in 1960.[4]Among the first venues for what would soon be called "off-off-Broadway" theatre were coffeehouses inGreenwich Village,particularly theCaffe Cinoat 31 Cornelia Street, operated by the eccentricJoe 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.[5]Also integral to the rise of off-off-Broadway wereEllen StewartatLa MaMa,andAl CarminesatJudson Poets Theatre,located atJudson Memorial Church.Other theaters of note that presented many plays wereTheatre Genesis,New York Theatre Ensemble,[6]The Old Reliable,[7]The Dove Company, The Playwrights Workshop,[8]and Workshop of the Players Art.[9]

At its coalescence, off-off-Broadway was known for its experimental nature.Brooks McNamarawrote 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."[2]

An off-off-Broadway production that features members of theActors' Equity Associationmay be anEquity Showcaseproduction 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.[10]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.[11]

In 1964, off-off-Broadway productions were made eligible forObie Awards,and in 1974, theDrama Desk Awardsbegan evaluating such productions with the same criteria as it used for Broadway and off-Broadway productions.[12]Since 2005, theNew 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.[13]

The termindie theatre,or independent theatre, was suggested as an alternative for "off-off Broadway" by playwright Kirk Bromley during a speech at the 2005New York Innovative Theatre Awards.[14]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Wright, Charles (October 4, 2004)."Off-Off-Broadway, Way Back When".Theatermania.Archived fromthe originalon December 2, 2018.RetrievedDecember 2,2018.
  2. ^abMcNamara, Brooks(2001). "Broadway: A Theatre Historian's Perspective".The Drama Review.45(4): 125–128.doi:10.1162/105420401772990360.S2CID57571738.
  3. ^Viagas 2004,p. 72.
  4. ^Smith, Michael (1966). "The Good Scene: Off Off-Broadway".The Tulane Drama Review.10(4): 159–176.doi:10.2307/1125218.JSTOR1125218.
  5. ^Malewitz 2014,p. 51.
  6. ^Gilbert, Ruth, ed. (March 2, 1970)."In and Around Town".New York Magazine.Vol. 3, no. 9. p. 13.RetrievedMarch 28,2015.
  7. ^Bottoms, Stephen James (2004).Playing Underground: A Critical History of the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway Movement.Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press. p. 292.doi:10.3998/mpub.22965.ISBN978-0-472-03194-8.RetrievedMarch 28,2015.
  8. ^Winters, Jennifer L. (May 2004)."Robert Patrick Papers: ca. 1940-1984"(PDF).New York Public Library. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on July 10, 2018.RetrievedDecember 3,2018.
  9. ^Berman, Audrey (May 3, 2011) [May 24, 1973]."Christopher Lloyd! Stacy Keach! Jessica Tandy! It's the 1973 Obies!".The Village Voice.Archived fromthe originalon July 10, 2018.RetrievedDecember 3,2018.
  10. ^"Resources – Contracts & Codes – NY Showcase".Actors' Equity Association.RetrievedDecember 11,2019.
  11. ^Eisler, Garrett (August 28, 2007)."Breaking the Code?".The Village Voice.Archived fromthe originalon November 9, 2007.RetrievedDecember 3,2018.
  12. ^"About the Drama Desk Awards".Drama Desk Awards. Archived fromthe originalon March 25, 2015.RetrievedMarch 28,2015.
  13. ^"About The New York Innovative Theatre Awards",New York Innovative Theatre Awards, accessed November 2021
  14. ^Istel, John (2007)."The Season Off Off Broadway".In Jenkins, Jeffrey Eric (ed.).The Best Plays Theater Yearbook 2005-2006.New York: Limelight Editions. p.261.ISBN978-0879103460.

Sources

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  • Bottoms, Stephen J (2004),Playing Underground: A Critical History of the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway Movement,Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,ISBN0-472-03194-5.
  • Curley, Mallory (2013),Tales of Off Off Broadway,Randy Press.
  • Malewitz, Raymond (2014).The Practice of Misuse: Rugged Consumerism in Contemporary American Culture.Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.doi:10.11126/stanford/9780804791960.001.0001.ISBN9780804791960.
  • Viagas, Robert (2004),The Back Stage Guide to Broadway,New York: Back Stage,ISBN0-8230-8809-X.
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