Robert Kalfin, the driving force behind the Chelsea Theater Center, which for two decades beginning in 1965 presented adventurous plays not always to the liking of general theatergoing audiences, died on Sept. 20 at a hospice center in Quogue, NY. He was 89.

Mr. Kalfin thought the commercial theaters of the day were limited and unimaginative, and he strove to broaden the theatrical landscape. His mission statement: “We will do whatever nobody else is doing, and what we think people ought to see.”

After the Chelsea closed, Mr. Kalfin continued to direct in New York and in regional houses. He was still working until recently. One of his post-Chelsea projects in New York was directing a Yiddish version of “Yentl,” produced by the Folksbiene Yiddish Theater in 2002.