The Living Theater

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Founded in 1947 by Julian Beck and his wife Judith Malina, The Living Theatre is a theatrical troupe dedicated to transforming the organization of power within society from a competitive, hierarchical structure to cooperative and communal expression. The troupe attempts to do so by counteracting complacency in the audience through direct spectacle. They oppose the commercial orientation of Broadway productions and have contributed to the off-Broadway theater movement in New York City, staging poetic dramas written almost exclusively by playwrights not directly affiliated with the troupe.

The primordial text for The Living Theatre is The Theater and Its Double, an anthology of essays written by Antonin Artaud, the French anarchist. It was published in France in 1937 and by the Grove Press in the U.S. in 1958. This work deeply influenced Julian Beck, a bisexual and painter of abstract expressionist works. The troupe reflects Artaud's influence by staging multimedia plays designed to exhibit his metaphysical Theatre of Cruelty. In these performances, the actors attempt to dissolve the fourth wall between themselves and the spectators.

The Living Theatre's original performances include The Brig, originally titled Storming The Barricades, by Kenneth H. Brown, which was presented as a film directed by Jonas Mekas in 1964, and The Connection, by Jack Gelber, first produced in 1957 and later made into a film directed by Shirley Clarke in 1962.

It also produced Mysteries and Other Pieces, a Living Theatre original, coopting exercises by Joseph Chaikin. Playboy also featured them in a photo spread in various semi-clad stills. [check date]

1 Trivia
2 Primary Theatrical Works
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Trivia

Charged with failing to pay taxes to the IRS, the Living Theatre fled the United States in 1968. [check date]

Julian Beck refused an offer by commercial producers to bring the troupe to Broadway. Hair, was presented on Broadway in lieu of a performance by the Living Theatre.

In Europe, members participated in the May 1968 riots in Paris while simultaneously performing an almost Bacchanalian orgy on stage, dubbed Paradise Now.

While in Italy, the troupe of actors had a cameo in the film The Bible, directed by John Huston, in which they appeared as a crowd around the crucifixion. [check billing]

The group split and members led by Julian fled to Brazil where they performed guerrilla theater to protest paramilitary martial government, which led to their imprisonment. [check date]

The documentary Signals Through The Flames (1984) features Julian Beck presenting his ideas on Artaud.

After being diagnosed with cancer, Julian Beck starred in Poltergeist II as a Jim Jonesian spirit bent on retribution, a role he performed in order to ensure his family's financial stability after his death.

Julian Beck is often described as the "bald hippie with long hair."

Judith Malina is an actor in her own right, probably best known as the voice of Al Pacino's mother in Dog Day Afternoon.

Beck and Malina's children include Garrick Beck, the founder of the Rainbow Gatherings and Isha Beck, born while the troupe was touring.

In a preface to The Brig, whose published text was radically altered against his will, Julian Beck writes: "I am an anarchist. I don't sue, I don't get injunctions, I advocate revolution, and when people ask me what can we do that's practical, I say, weakly, weaken the fabric of the system wherever you can, make possible the increase of freedom, all kinds... " - Preface to The Brig, A Spotlight Dramabook.