H.M. Koutoukas’ Medea of the Laundromat
A point of entry into the work of H.M. Koutoukas; the Medea mythos; the history of Coffeehouse/Off-Off Broadway Theatre; & the upcoming production at La MaMa.
The Club @ La MaMa * JUNE 12 – 22, 2025
Produced in Association with Lucille Lortel Theatre.
An ancient Greek tragedy set in a Laundromat unfolds in a 1960’s Coffeehouse.
TONY-award nominee, John-Andrew Morrison takes on the title role in a revival of H.M. Koutoukas’ 1965 ritualistic camp. The company includes Jason Howard (Jason); John-Andrew Morrison (Medea); Jenne Vath (Nurse); Costumes by EMMY-award winner, Sally Lesser; Light & Set design by Federico Restrepo; & Direction, Set & Sound Design by Arthur Adair.
ORIGINAL 1965 PRODUCTION
The work premiered on October 13, 1965, as “Medea, Or, Maybe the Stars May Understand, or Veiled Strangeness” at Café La MaMa (122 2nd Ave) before moving on to Caffe Cino & Theatre Genesis. The Village Voice referred to the production as so “eccentric as to be nearly unthinkable. The play is an enactment of the final terrible scene when Medea murders her child… Medea is the very heroine of old–fanatical, hideous, wronged, ecstatically suffering. But the action is set in a laundromat.” The following year, H.M. received an Obie Award for “Assaulting Established Tradition.”
Charles Stanley as Medea (1965). Photo Credit: Photo: Conrad Ward.
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H.M. Koutoukas
“Haralambos Monroe ‘Harry’ Koutoukas took a bus from his home in upstate New York to Greenwich Village just as the 1950s came to a close, in search of adventure. ‘When Koutoukas hit town, he was an Adonis, a Greek youth with abundant energy, personality, and natural wit. He was able to express himself in the vernacular of downtown—being free,’ said Agosto Machado… Even in the Village, which was bursting with theatrical flourishes, this Greek American cut a striking figure. Entering a coffeehouse, Koutoukas might come swooshing in the door with a large swath of fabric flowing behind him—all while holding a cigarette high, for dramatic effect. ‘It was sort of grand,’ Machado said, ‘but it wasn’t a pretentious-grand. It was a fun-grand.”
Text: Dominic, Maggie, Smith, Michael Townsend (Eds.). (2010). H. M. Koutoukas 1937-2010. Fast Books. More Here
Photo Credit: Victor Carnuccio – Artflux Productions Ltd.
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EURIPIDES’ MEDEA
A classic of the Western canon & the most frequently performed Greek tragedy of the 20th century. It experienced renewed interest in the feminist movement of the late 20th century, being interpreted as a nuanced portrayal of Medea’s struggle to take charge of her own life in a male-dominated world. The play holds the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Award record for most wins for the same female lead character, with Judith Anderson (1948), Zoe Caldwell (1982), & Diana Rigg (1994).
Photograph of painting by Artemisia Gentileschi: CC BY-SA 4.0
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La Mama Theatre
“Founded in 1961 by theatre legend Ellen Stewart, La MaMa is the only original Off-Off-Broadway venue still in operation. Ellen established La MaMa as a haven for underrepresented artists to experiment with new work, without the pressures of commercial success. Today, they maintain an environment of uncensored creative freedom, where artists of all backgrounds and identities can develop work that pushes the boundaries of what is possible onstage. The American Theatre Wing presented La MaMa with the Regional Theatre Tony Award, stating, ‘La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is a staple of the New York theatre scene. It is an exciting space where artists can grow, create, and push boundaries, and we are thrilled to be able to honor them this year.”
Text: La MaMa History at La MaMa
Photo Credit: Herve Gloaguen – LaMaMa Archive
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Caffe cino
“The Caffe Cino is widely recognized as the birthplace of Off-Off-Broadway theater & was located on the ground floor of 31 Cornelia St. from 1958 to 1968. It is also highly significant as a pioneer in the development of gay theater, at a time when it was still illegal to depict homosexuality on stage (1).” “The storefront location was a long and narrow space, about fourteen feet from wall to wall, but with a twelve-foot-high ceiling strung with fishnets. It was a dingy, smoky, dusty, cool, cluttered room, with a dozen tiny tables surrounded by bentwood chairs (2).”
(1) Text: NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project Caffe Cino
(2) Text: Gordy, Douglass W. Joseph Cino and the First Off-Off-Broadway Theater. University of Michigan Press, 1998. Project MUSE.
Photo Credit: Ben Martin –Time Magazine. Ben Martin’s 1961 Caffe Cino Photos
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THEATRE GENESIS
“Theatre Genesis… located in the East Village on Tenth Street and Second Avenue, was another hotbed of Off-Off-Broadway activity. Along with Café La MaMa, Judson Church, and Caffe Cino, it was one of the key venues of the downtown’s underground theater movement. And like Judson, it was housed in a church—St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery, which in 1963 hired a radical young rector named Michael Allen, who was committed to supporting the artistic scenes flowering around him. Theatre Genesis was the brainchild of Ralph Cook…”
Text: The Downtown Pop Underground Theatre Genesis
Photo: St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery Explore Here
