Fridays @ 4 presents

Jeff Grace, Department of Theatre

“Coming Out at the Caffe Cino: A Turning Point in Gay Stage Visibility”

Friday, October 11 at 4 PM

in the Round Room, CFA

Refreshments and conversation at 4:00 PM.　

Talk begins at 4:15 PM.

Description:

My research examines emerging representations of homosexual visibility as they occurred in plays presented on stage at the Caffe Cino, a small New York coffeehouse theatre that pioneered the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway movement. By interweaving the gay Cino plays with social and cultural history, my research explores how issues of sexual identity perception, gender expressions, social oppression, communication codes, camp performances, and characteristics of affirmation coalesce around textual bodies of performance to depict homosexual characters openly and overtly rather than adhering to restrictions that kept them hidden in the dramatic closet for decades.