Playing Underground : A Critical History of the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway Movement (Theater: Theory/Text/Performance)

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Summary: social history of influential 1960s unconventional theater
Review: Bottoms gives shape to the marginal field of "basement theaters, cafe theaters, hole-in-the-wall theaters, and theaters thriving on rough edges, raw passion, and a fierce sense of immediacy and 'liveness' of the stage event itself and of the audience" which sprang up in the 1960s along with the experimentation in other parts of the culture as well. A Professor in the Department of Theatre, Film, and Television Studies at the U. of Glascow, Bottoms sees the connection between this "off-off-Broadway" theater of the tumultuous and quixotic 1960s and today's popular entertainment. The raucousness of rock concerts, the brazenness of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction," the provocative live performances, and rap lyrics all had precursors in the "illegitimate" theater of the 60s. Bottom's engaging work is both historical and critical. He cites the artistic and cultural sources while also bringing in the wider social milieu of the time. General themes and developments share space with activities and individuals connected with particular theaters and troupes. "Playing Underground" is a benchmark work of thorough research which goes into the social and political agendas of this theater scene while at the same time imparting its unconventional, often deliberately provocative and obscene, and in the long run, influential performance style.


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Summary: Applause from a participant
Review: This book is an epic movie about an epic movement. "Playing Underground" is a book the world has waited for without knowing it. New York's off-Off Broadway theatres in the 1960's created the styles that mark Post-Modern art--not only stage plays but films and music as well. I know. I was there. How precisely this book captures the evolution of our revolution! I am amazed by its scope and scale, and I bless its author especially for giving two greats, playwrights Paul Foster and H.M. Koutoukas,their proper, polar places, and for memorializing such unjustly forgotten masterpieces as Irene Fornes' "Molly's Dream" and Jeff Weiss' "A Funny Walk Home." Stephen Bottoms' vivid evocation of the grand adventure of Off-Off Broadway has woken and broken my heart. It is difficult to believe that he was not there alongside me to breathe the caffeine-nicotine-alkaloid-steeped air. The photographs show how we flaunted our youth and imagination in the dark, dusty, often dirty coffeehouses, churches, galleries, basements, and "black boxes" where modern theatre--and so much more--began.
Robert Patrick, author of "Kennedy's Children," "Temple Slave," and "Film Moi: Narcissus in the Dark"