Wilford Leach, John Braswell and ETC Company Will Be Remembered at La MaMa's COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES

La MaMa's popular oral history series, COFFEEHOUSE CHRONICLES, highlights the groundbreaking resident company THE ETC COMPANY on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 3 p.m. at the Ellen Stewart Theatre (66 E 4 St.), it has been announced by Mia Yoo, La MaMa's Artistic Director.  This public celebration of a vital experimental theater troupe will be moderated by Susan Haskins Doloff, the popular host of the Emmy-winning television series THEATRE TALK and a former member of the innovative ETC COMPANY during its tenure at La MaMa from 1970-74. 

Directed by its visionary leaders Wilford Leach and John Braswell, THE ETC COMPANY performed numerous productions that helped define La Ma Ma's mission to present experimental work in its early years: including CAMILLA, GERTRUDE, DEMON, RENARD, THE ONLY JEALOUSY OF EMER and HORSE OPERA.  The company was considered a sensation and toured Denmark, Spain, Italy, Holland, France, and Austria.

Coffeehouse Chronicle #173 will feature THE ETC COMPANY members and associates: N.C. Heikin, Don Arrington, Camille Tibaldeo, Audrey Lavine, Bill Ruyle, Michael Sirotta, Kat Yew, Mel Howard, and more to be announced. This series is curated by and directed by Michal Gamily. 

February 3, 2024, Saturday at 3PM

Ellen Stewart Theatre
‍66 East 4th Street, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10003

Tickets are Pay-What-You-Can from $11–$61
Free for La MaMa Members.

Subsequent to his work at La MaMa, Wilford Leach was a leading director at the NY Shakespeare Festival, helming THE TAMING OF THE SHREW with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline, and winning Tony Awards for his productions of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE and THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD.  He was on the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College, and shared La MaMa founder Ellen Stewart's commitment to ‘creating works that only exist in the theater.'

John Braswell wrote several plays for ETC COMPANY and Sarah Lawrence College, where he was director of the experimental theater company starting in 1959. 

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. Events feature firsthand oral accounts from artists of the day, as well as conversations with contemporary artists who work in the same bold, daring manner today. Since 2005, La MaMa has presented more than 150 Coffeehouse Chronicles.