Constellation Similarity Assertions

The American Place Theatre was founded in 1963 in New York City as a not-for-profit theater dedicated to aid in the advancement of learning in all aspects of the dramatic and related arts, including the development and advancement in writing, direction, and production of new plays by contemporary authors. The American Place Theatre was known for taking risks and producing experimental plays that demonstrated minority or immigrant experiences. Wynn Handman co-founded the American Place Theatre with actors Sidney Lanier and Michael Tolan. Handman became the artistic director, as well as the chief financial officer, positions he still holds at the time of this writing (2012), and has taught acting at his own studio since the 1950s. The American Place Theatre, originally located at Saint Clement's Church at 423 West 46th Street, officially opened with a production of The Old Glory, a trilogy of one-act plays by the poet Robert Lowell.

The American Place Theatre sought to keep the theater free from commercial pressures, performing only four to six original works a season to a subscription audience. In addition to these productions, the American Place Theatre staged rehearsed readings, called works-in-progress, which collected feedback on the play from audience members. Early playwrights who premiered their work at the American Place Theatre included Ed Bullins, Frank Chin, Phillip Hayes Dean, Jack Gelber, Robert Lowell, Joyce Carol Oates, Jonathan Reynolds, Ronald Ribman, Anne Sexton, Sam Shephard, and Steve Tesich. In 1971, the theater moved to a new location at 111 West 46th Street, part of a 1967 zoning resolution of the Theatre District that allowed developers height or plot rights in exchange for constructing a theater in their building. This allowed the American Place Theatre to move into a larger theater, as well as have a smaller, cafe-style performance space it called the SubPlot Cabaret.

...

View Constellation