Off-Off-Broadway refers to theatrical productions including plays, musicals or performance art pieces performed in New York City in smaller theatres than Broadway productions and Off-Broadway productions.

Off-Off-Broadway theaters are defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats.^[1] The shows range from professional and successful productions by established artists like Richard Foreman's Ontological-Hysteric Theater in the East Village, or The Flea Theater in TriBeCa, to extremely small amateur performances, and take place all over New York City.

History

Off-Off-Broadway began in 1958 as a reaction to Off-Broadway, and a "complete rejection of commercial theatre".^[2] Among the first venues for what would soon be called "Off-Off-Broadway" (a term supposedly coined by critic Jerry Tallmer of the Village Voice) 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. Also integral to the rise of Off-Off-Broadway were Ellen Stewart at La MaMa, and Al Carmines at the Judson Poets' Theater, located at Judson Memorial Church.

The term "Indie Theater" was coined by Kirk Wood Bromley in his acceptance speech at the 2005 New York Innovative Theatre Awards. There is currently a movement to re-brand Off-Off-Broadway as "Indie Theatre". The New York Innovative Theatre Awards (the IT Awards) are given annually to honor artistic excellence in the Off-Off-Broadway theatre. For many years, Off-Off-Broadway theatres were part of OOBA, the Off-Off-Broadway Alliance, which then became ARTNY, the Alliance of Resident Theatres in New York.

An Off-Off-Broadway production that features members of Actors Equity is called an Equity Showcase production. The Union maintains very strict rules about working in such productions, including restrictions on price, the length of the run and rehearsal times. Professional actors' participation in showcase productions is not infrequent, and in fact comprises the bulk of stage work for the majority of New York actors.^[3]

Notable theatre companies and venues

This is a list of notable Off-Off-Broadway theatre companies and venues.

• AndHow! Theatre Company
• Banana Bag and Bodice
• Big Art Group
• Boomerang Theatre Company
• The Brick
• Center Stage, NY
• Collapsable Giraffe
• The Civilians
• The Committee Theatre Company
• Dixon Place
• Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT)
• Ensemble Studio Theater (EST)
• The Flea Theater
• Flux Theatre Ensemble
• Gemini CollisionWorks
• HERE Arts Center
• Impetuous Theater Group
• Horse Trade Theater Group
• International WOW
• Inverse Theatre Company
• La Mama ETC
• Les Freres Corbusier
• Ontological-Hysteric Theater
• Manhattan Theatre Source
• Nicu's Spoon
• Nosedive Productions
• Partial Comfort Productions
• Piper McKenzie Productions
• Performance Space 122
• RedBull Theater
• Radiohole
• Riverside Shakespeare Company
• The Stolen Chair Theatre Company
• Stone Soup Theatre Arts
• terraNOVA Collective
• Theater for the New City
• 13th Street Theatre
• TOSOS II
• 29th Street Rep
• Untitled Theater Co. #61
• Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company
• Waterwell
• Working Man's Clothes
• Witness Relocation
• Wings Theatre

See also

• Showcase theatre (performing arts group)

Notes

References

External links

• New York Innovative Theatre Awards?A not-for-profit awards organization that honors excellence in Off-Off-Broadway theatre.
• offoffonline?A website featuring comprehensive listings, reviews, articles and archives for off-off Broadway theater in New York City
• Listing in The New York Times
• offoffBway.com?site featuring listings, reviews and commentary about off-off Broadway theater in New York City.
• The Community Dish?organization dedicated to promoting communication and sharing resources between the community of independent theater companies.
• Indie Theatre.org?organization dedicated to promoting "Indie Theatre".
• The New York Theatre Experience?a website featuring comprehensive listing, reviews and articles for New York theatre

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