The wilting three-story building in Greenwich Village that houses the 13th Street Repertory Company creaked and groaned as its artistic director, Joe Battista, gave a tour of its theater one afternoon in July. The Repertory opened in 1972 and is one of the oldest Off Off Broadway theaters in New York. Mr. Battista walked past its 65 tattered seats and onto its stage.

“Tennessee Williams once sat right there, and Chazz Palminteri acted here,” he said. “This place has it all. This place is great!”

According to theater lore, Williams stood downstage right shortly before his death and proclaimed that the future of American theater was not on Broadway, but in small playhouses like 13th Street. The building’s cellar is believed to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad. Mr. Battista, 63, then pointed to the stage lights and made a dramatic gesture with his hands. “Theater is dangerous,” he said.

In the Repertory’s musty lobby, the building creaked loudly. A man in his 60s with white hair in a ponytail and wearing sandals descended from upstairs.