The Performing Garage is an

Off-Off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, 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 prof ...

theater in

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Established in 1968, it is the permanent home of the

experimental theater Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu plays as a rejection of both the age in particular ...

company originally named The Performance Group (under

Richard Schechner Richard Schechner is University Professor Emeritus at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, and editor of ''TDR: The Drama Review''. Biography Richard Schechner received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1956, a ...

) that morphed in 1980 into

The Wooster Group The Wooster Group is a New York City-based experimental theater company known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group (1967–1980) during the period from 1975 to 1980, an ...

(under Elizabeth LeCompte), and their primary performance venue. Since 1978, it also hosts their annual "Visiting Artist Series" or "Emerging Artist Series". Located at 33 Wooster Street, it seats approximately 60. Actors such as

Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Willem Dafoe, various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for ...

debuted in earnest here and regularly come back.For instance, Dafoe played at the Garage in ''LSD'', ''Just the High Points'', ''The Road to Immortality'', ''North Atlantic'

up to 2001 in ''To You, the Birdie!! (Phèdre)

History

The location was originally not a garage but a metal stamping/flatware factory,Wooster Group, "The Performing Garage". back when

was an empty

warehouse district This is a list of notable warehouse districts. A warehouse district or warehouse row is an area found in many urban setting known for being the current or former location of numerous warehouses. Logistically, warehouses are often located in indust ...

being colonized by artists. It was acquired in 1968 by its first

artistic Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wh ...

and

theater director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. The Performing Garage was established there in 1968NYT (1970)
"Dionysus in 69"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', March 23, 1970. as a home for Schechner's company The Performance Group (1967–1980), starting with ''

Dionysus in 69 ''Dionysus in '69'' is a 1970 film by Brian De Palma, Robert Fiore and Bruce Rubin. The film records a performance of The Performance Group's stage play of the same name, an adaptation of ''The Bacchae''. It was entered into the 20th Berlin Inte ...

'' (1968). Because of the group's name, the theater is sometimes erroneously called ''the Performance Garage''. In 1975, some members began to develop their own productions and perform them at the Performing Garage but not under the name of The Performance Group, starting with ''Sakonnet Point'' (1975). In 1980, Richard Schechner resigned as director and the Performing Garage became home to the troupe renamed

under Elizabeth LeCompte, with their 1975–1980 independent works being retroactively consideredWooster Group, "Production History since 1975". productions of the new Group. The Performing Garage is owned and operated by the Wooster Group as a shareholder in the Grand Street Artists Co-op (originally established as part of the

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...

art movement in the 1960s). Located at 33 Wooster Street, it is one block north of Canal Street and one block east of

West Broadway West Broadway is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, separated into two parts by Tribeca Park. The northern part begins at Tribeca Park, near the intersection of Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), Walker Street a ...

, New York.

Artist series

Since 1978,Village Voice 1999. the Performing Garage has hosted an annual "Visiting Artist Series". In 1999, they started an "Emerging Artist Series", a three-week program intended to spotlight up-and-coming multimedia performers by granting three individuals or groups a week of rehearsal time and a weekend of performances in the Performing Garage. Selected among 20 candidates, the first series featured: ; 1999 * Elliott Earls, ''Eye Sling Shot Lions'' * Radiant Pig (country mystic folk-art band) * Radiohole, ''A History of Heen: Not Francis E. Dec, Esq.'' — about Francis E. Dec

References

Notes

Sources

Citysearch Citysearch is an online city guide that provides information about businesses in the categories of dining, entertainment, retail, travel, and professional services in cities throughout the United States. Visitors to each of Citysearch's local city ...

"The Performing Garage"
(editor's review), consulted in March 2009 *

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

(1999)
"Garage Music"
''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', July 13, 1999. *

Wooster Group The Wooster Group is a New York City-based experimental theater company known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group (1967–1980) during the period from 1975 to 1980, an ...

"The Performing Garage"
consulted in March 2009 *

"Production History since 1975"
consulted in March 2009

External links

s page {{DEFAULTSORT:Performing Garage, The Off-Off-Broadway 1968 establishments in New York City Performance art in New York City SoHo, Manhattan