The play divided audiences and critics. Some longtime observers of the theatre were shocked and appalled. But a few critics—specifically Kenneth Tynan, who was then working at the New Yorker, and Jerry Talmer of The Village Voice—championed the piece, which went on to play 722 performances—the longest run to date for an Off-Broadway play that was not a revival. The play won a 1960 Obie Award and a Vernon Rice Award. In 1961, Shirley Clarke made it into a film, with Mr. Gelber providing a screen play.