Cino Plaque

The plaque commemorating the Caffe Cino, birthplace of Off Off Broadway. The event was hosted by Christine Karatnytsky who is the archivist of the Cino papers at the New York Public Library.

John Guare with Proclamation

Office of the Manhattan Borough President

City of New York

WHEREAS:We are proud to acknowledge those individuals who have long devoted their time and energy to enriching our cultural community and with whom we are lucky to celebrate great achievements; and

WHEREAS:In December 1958, Joseph Cino opened "Caffe Cino" which gave theatrical artists the unconditional opportunity to present their plays at regular intervals to the public for the sake of their art, without the need to make a profit, or consider religious, legal, or critical opinion; and

WHEREAS:Joe Cino's liberality, unprecedented in the annals of theatre history, inspired playwrights and directors to innovations in form and content not before possible on the commercial and state-controlled stages of the world; and

WHEREAS:Joe Cino's example inspired untold numbers of emulators first locally, sparking New York's vital Off-Off Broadway movement, then nationally and internationally, exerting influence as well on music, film, and television;

NOW THEREFORE, I ,Scott M. Stringer, President of the Borough of Manhattan, do hereby commend Joe Cino for his ongoing cultural contributions and proclaim this Monday, April 28, 2008 as"Joe Cino Appreciation Day"in the Borough of Manhattan.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Borough of Manhattan to be affixed.

Scott M. Stringer

President, Borough of Manhattan

MAGIE DOMINIC unveiling the plaque, and MARI-CLAIRE CHARBA reading a poem. Peter Craig watches Magie from the left and Mari-Claire from the right. Those are JOHN GUARE's hands to Magie's right, holding the Manhattan Borough President's proclamation honoring JOE CINO, and that's BOB HEIDE under mari-Claire's arm, in the "Non-Fiction" t-shirt. Photos: Meg Patterson/Dramatic Risks

Outdoor Commemoration for Joseph Cino,
April 28, 2008, by Christine Karatnytsky

In late 2007, this evening was conceived as a simple library talk for The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, given by me, to introduce The Theatre Division of The New York Public Library and The Caffe Cino, the first continuous off-off Broadway theatre. I intended to showcard catalog drawers, reference books, and a selection of memorabilia from a small archive of ephemera that the Village Voice critic Michael Smith salvaged and brought to Lincoln Center after The Cino finally closed in 1968. After a few back-and-forths, the Preservation Society and I realized that our scheduling needs weren’t gelling, so we moved things to the Cornelia Street Cafe.

Somehow, between then and now, mostly in the last month, this talk became an event and a celebration. This is thanks to the ministrations of an angel known as Robert Patrick. Robert Patrick, like so many of those we are celebrating tonight, is a pioneer in the off-off Broadway and gay theatre movement. He is the author of over 60 plays, including Kennedy’s Children, a hallmark of its era, which provided an opportunity for ShirleyKnight to earn a Tony award in 1976. Bob arranged for the commemorative plaque to be placed here, on the exterior of The Po restaurant, which, 50 years ago, opened as a coffeehouse called The Caffe Cino. Bob also arranged for a proclamation to be granted by The City of New York in honor of Joseph Cino, the proprietor of this coffeehouse, and the legacy of new theatre for which he was a catalyst. So, we all owe Robert Patrick our thanks and our love – sent across three thousand miles, because he lives in LA. He gave us a better reason than the one we had before to come together to remember Joe Cino one more time.

There are two ironies associated with what we're about to do.

The first, easily recognized by all of you, is that we’re celebrating a coffeehouse during a time when our City has become suffocated by them. These days, a "coffeehouse" has an endlessly cloned design template, a marketing strategy devised by a corporation, and a grand scheme for worldwide colonization. Fifty years ago, coffeehouses were havens for poets, musicians, and freaks of all stripes. (This is meant in the 'freakpositive' sense.) Coffeehouses were symbols of an anti-establishment aesthetic, where individuals struggled to break free of the oppressive order imposed by the values of the previous generation. This is a far cry from what they’ve largely become -- the distressing epitome of capitalist excess. But, even in a neighborhood like Greenwich Village and an era like the 50s and 60s, both of which were replete with coffeehouses, The Caffe Cino was unique.

The second irony, more likely to be noticed by the Cino veterans, is that it is has been finally, formally acknowledged by The City of New York. Official recognition has got to strike some of you as, well, as ironic, given The Cino’s history of being constantly at odds with any kind of governmental agency, not to mention Actors Equity and Con Edison.

I’ll finish by going back farther than fifty years.

Classical scholars trace the origins of theatre to the leaping dance -- the dithyramb -- of the rite of Dionysus. This was the story of his horrible death, performed by large groups of his followers, in an intoxicated, half-crazed, orgiastic ritual at ancient festivals. Now, between two rascals known as Ken Burgess and Joe Davies, who entertained me for hours while we were putting together the exhibit at Lincoln Center in 1985, I happen to know a little something about the intoxicated, kukaya shenanigans that went on in The Cino after hours. My point here is the communal aspectof what went on with the lights on, so to speak. Theatre, as we all know so well, is not a solitary art. Even Joe Cino, magician that he was, did not put on shows alone. If I may say so, he wouldn’t have wanted to -- and that wasn’t the point. The Caffe Cino was a place for friends to gather and have a good time while they made themselves into a family. Robert Patrick has said that, had Joe Cino decided to open a bowling alley, “we all would have become champion bowlers” -- and the rest of us would be unveiling a plaque at a bowling alley. As we said in 1985, Cino “wasn’t concerned with the future, […] but only with the miraculous present -- the room, the performance, the people watching.” Nevertheless, the recognition that belongs to your friend also belongs to you, his chosen family, who created this theatre with him. For this, we thank you.

Left: PAUL FOSTER and MARI-CLAIRE CHARBA, JOHN GUARE with proclamation, and MAGIE DOMINIC. Right: A wonderful shot showing the weather everyone braved to be at the ceremony.
More Photos HERE!