ABOUT

Coffeehouse Chronicles is an educational performance series exploring the history of Off-Off-Broadway. Part artist-portrait, part history lesson, and part community forum, Coffeehouse Chronicles take an intimate look at the development of downtown theatre, from the 1960s’ “Coffeehouse Theatres” through today.

CREDITS

With Lavinia Co-op, Jimmy Camicia, Peggy Shaw, and Lois Weaver
Moderated by Linda Simpson
Video clips segments from Bette Bourne interview by Artifact
Media editor & programer: Jane Catherine Shaw
Pictures by Bloolips and Keith Gemerek

BIOS

Jimmy Camicia was born in New York City and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He attended the University of Miami and Bard College. He has lived in London, Marrakesh, and Berlin, and came to New York in the early 1970s. Soon thereafter he founded Hot Peaches, an openly gay theater troupe. The company presented shows over 25 years, from 1972 to 1997, in New York, London, Amsterdam and Berlin, and across much of Italy, Holland and Germany. It was in 1976 in London that Bette joined the company, touring and performing with us throughout Europe.

Lavinia Co-op: Londons East End to Lower East side. Lavinia Co-op. Foundling Member, 1977 of the “BLOOLIPS”: a Gay Musical Theater Comedy Troupe Touring Europe N.America. Performance Artist. Drag Queen Performed in front of the Pr of Wales, Duke of Wellington, Queen Vic and other Pubs!

Linda Simpson: Since emerging from NYC’s East Village drag scene in the late 1980s, Linda Simpson has racked up a long list of creative endeavors, including nightlife promoter, writer, actor, gameshow host, publisher of the underground gay magazine My Comrade, and drag her-storian with her touring slideshow The Drag Explosion, which features her photos of NYC’s drag subculture in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Split Britches (Lois Weaver & Peggy Shaw): Founded in New York in 1980 with Deb Margolin, Split Britches continues with the duo and solo work of foundational lesbian performance artists Lois Weaver and Peggy Shaw. Today our work is internationally recognized and has been the recipient of several prestigious grants and awards, including Doris Duke, US Artists, Guggenheim, and the Wellcome Trust.

Steven Watson is the founder of www.artifacts.movie, an online treasure trove of video oral histories–from Bette Bourne and Lavinia Coop to Quentin Crisp and Holly Woodlawn. He has written six books about the American avant-garde.