Caffe Cino and Its Legacy

New York: Library & Museum of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, 1985. First Edition, First Printing.
Rare exhibition catalogue celebrating Caffe Cino, widely considered the birthplace of Off Off Broadway.

The exhibition took place from March 5 to May 11, 1985, at the Vincent Astor Gallery of the Library & Museum of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

Joe Cino (1931-1967) opened the tiny space as a coffee house at 31 Cornelia Street in the West Village in 1958. He soon began hosting poetry readings that developed into readings of plays by actors and then performances of plays. "By 1960 actors had been joined by directors, designers, and more frequently by playwrights," Leah D. Frank writes in an essay published in this catalogue. In 1965, Caffe Cino (along with Cafe La Mama) received a special Obie award "for creating opportunities for new playwrights to confront audiences and gain experience of the real theatre."

Deprived of opportunities in commercial theater, young playwrights, actors, and directors could practice their art on Caffe Cino's minuscule stage (which was built on milk cartons). Moreover, Caffe Cino was welcoming to gay people at a time when so many other venues were not.

As Frank notes in her essay, the Cino was where Sam Shepard could watch the first plays of Lanford Wilson. It's also where actors such as Bernadette Peters and Harvey Keitel regularly honed their craft. "During the nine years of its existence, its 8' x 8' stage provided a playing area for the fledgling work of men and women who went on to become prime movers as playwrights, actors, and directors in American and world theatre."

Cino committed suicide in 1967. Friends tried to keep Caffe Cino open, but it closed in 1968.

Besides Frank's informative essay, the catalogue contains recollections by playwrights Robert Patrick, Jean Claude von Itallie, Robert Heide, and Doric Wilson, and actress Mary Boylan. Especially valuable is Frank's list of all the plays performed at the theatre, arranged by playwright. There are also black-and-white photos of Cino and the cafe.

This catalogue is rare. OCLC shows only one institutional holding, at Kent State.

An important documentation of Caffe Cino's groundbreaking role in American theatre.

FURTHER READING: Stephen J. Bottoms, "Playing Underground: A Critical History of the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway Movement." (University of Michigan Press, 2004).

PHYSICAL DETAILS: Quarto (11 x 8 1/2 inches; 280 x 210 mm), 15 pages, in side-stapled, illustrated wrappers (soft cover).

CONDITION: Some light edge wear and a bit of toning to page extremities. Near Fine.