H.M. Koutoukas Residence
overview
From c. 1960 to 2010, absurdist playwright H.M. “Harry” Koutoukas lived in this apartment building.
While here, he contributed to the burgeoning Off-Off-Broadway theater movement in the 1960s through his award-winning work at downtown venues, such as the Caffe Cino and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club.
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Portrait of H.M. Koutoukas by Peter Hujar, 1979. Source: The Peter Hujar Archive LLC.
Joe Cino and H.M. Koutoukas at La MaMa, 1965. Photo by James D. Gossage. Source: Magie Dominic's "H.M. (Harry) Koutoukas" blog.
H.M. Koutoukas at La MaMa, 122 Second Avenue, 1965. Photo by James D. Gossage. Courtesy of the Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.
Promotional card for two H.M. Koutoukas plays staged at La MaMa, 122 Second Avenue, June 28, 1965. Source: La MaMa Archives.
(l to r) Robert Dahdah, Ron Link, Charles Stanley, and Candace Scott in the H.M. Koutoukas play, "All Day for a Dollar, or Crumpled Christmas," at Caffe Cino, 1965. Photo by James D. Gossage. Courtesy of the Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.
(l to r) Johnny Dodd, Charles Stanley, H.M. Koutoukas, Bob Savage, and Mary Boylan in the Koutoukas play, "A Letter from Colette, or Dreams Don't Send Valentines," at Caffe Cino, 1966. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of the Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.
(l to r) Joe Cino, Eddie Barton, and H.M. Koutoukas during rehearsal for the Koutoukas play, "A Letter from Colette, or Dreams Don't Send Valentines," at the Caffe Cino, March 1966. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of the Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.
H.M. Koutoukas watches Bernadette Peters in rehearsal for "Dames at Sea" at the Caffe Cino, May 1966. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of the Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.
Lettering advertising the Koutoukas play, With Creatures Make My Way, on the Caffe Cino storefront, May 1966. Photo by James D. Gossage. Courtesy of the Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.
(l to r) Al Carmines, Irene Fornes, H.M. Koutoukas, and Larry Kornfield before a performance of Tom Eyen's "The White Whore and the Bit Player" at Caffe Cino, 1967. Photo by James D. Gossage. Courtesy of the Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.
Plaque dedicated to H.M. "Harry" Koutoukas in front of the building at 87 Christopher Street. Photo by Amanda Davis/NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project.
History
Absurdist playwright, actor, and director H. M. “Harry” Koutoukas (born Haralambos Monroe Koutoukas; 1937-2010) was particularly significant in the development of Off-Off-Broadway theater in the 1960s. In Contemporary American Dramatists (1994), he is noted as the “quintessential Off-Off-Broadway dramatist.”
Koutoukas moved into the apartment building at 87 Christopher Street in c. 1960, shortly after arriving in the city from upstate New York. A few years later, he became a fixture at several Off-Off-Broadway theater venues; he was most often associated with the Caffe Cino, located just four blocks south on Cornelia Street from his apartment, and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, in the East Village. As with other Off-Off-Broadway pioneers who rejected the theater establishment, Koutoukas fully embraced the creative and experimental opportunities that the relaxed attitudes, intimate spaces, and limited finances of unconventional downtown venues nurtured. He wrote at least 52 plays over his career, based on a compilation by Cino historian Magie Dominic, and took part in more than 150 productions.
Koutoukas wrote, directed, and acted in various plays at several downtown venues. His Off-Off-Broadway playwriting debut, Only A Countess May Dance When She’s Crazy, appeared at the Cino in December 1964. Following a devastating fire there three months later, Koutoukas organized a major benefit at the Writer’s Stage Theatre, 82 East 4th Street, with playwright Edward Albee. The Cino re-opened with the staging of Koutoukas’ play, With Creatures Make My Way, on May 18, 1965. His decades-long association as a playwright with La MaMa began with his play, Medea or Maybe the Stars May Understand or Veiled Strangers, in October 1965. The staging of his work also took place at other celebrated downtown venues, such as Judson Poets Theatre, Theatre Genesis, Theater for the New City, and Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company, where he also won acclaim for his performances in the company’s revivals.
One doesn’t write plays—they’re written. … You have to learn to listen to write plays. But since they fixed my radiator, I’m not hearing so many voices lately.
At the 1966 Obie Awards, which honors the achievements of Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theater, Koutoukas received a Special Citation “for the style and energy of his assault on the theatre in both playwriting and production.” He also ran the School for Gargoyles, a theater workshop in Manhattan that trained the likes of Gerome Ragni and James Rado, writers of the musical Hair (1967); director Tom O’Horgan; and actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein. Koutoukas was also a founding member of the Chamber Theater Group and, in 2003, won the Robert Chesley Award for lesbian and gay playwriting. He lived on Christopher Street until his death in 2010. His memorial service was held at Judson Memorial Church, and a plaque installed by a tree in front of his apartment building is dedicated to him.
Entry by Amanda Davis, project manager (December 2019).
NOTE: Names above in bold indicate LGBT people.
Building Information
- Architect or Builder: W.J. Gessner
- Year Built: 1872
Sources
Amanda Davis, “Caffe Cino,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (New York, NY: NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, November 2017).
Billy J. Harbin, Kim Marra, and Robert A. Schanke, The Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2007), 237-240.
Cookie Mueller, “The Head Gargoyle: H.M. Koutoukas,” BOMB Magazine, April 1, 1983. [source of pull quote]
M. Smith, “H.M. Koutoukas,” Contemporary American Dramatists, Kathryn Ann Berney, ed. (London: St. James Press, 1994), 323-325.
Magie Dominic, “H.M. Koutoukas — Research by Magie Dominic,” H.M. (Harry) Koutoukas blog (October 3, 2010), koutoukas.blogspot.com.
Steven J. Bottoms, Playing Underground: A Critical History of the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway Movement (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2006), 59.
Tony Ortega, “Dustin Hoffman, Frank Langella, and Sam Shepard — It’s Obies 1966!” The Village Voice, May 26, 1966.
William Grimes, “H. M. Koutoukas, Author of Surrealist Plays, Dies at 72,” The New York Times, March 18, 2010.
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