The Living Theatre - Artists' Talk

The talk will explore the panoramic overview of the Living Theatre Europe.
The Living Theatre, one of the most influential performance groups of the 20th and 21st centuries, has long sought to dissolve the boundaries between art and life, uniting the roles of artist, activist, and citizen. Founded by Judith Malina and Julian Beck, the company’s early political actions—such as protesting New York City’s Cold War Air Raid Drills in the 1950s—blurred the lines between performance and civil disobedience, often resulting in arrests and public outrage. Embracing documentary elements, improvisation, and ritual, The Living Theatre redefined stagecraft with its seminal 1964 performance Mysteries and Smaller Pieces, which abandoned traditional roles, narratives, and theatrical conventions in favor of direct confrontation and engagement with audiences. Influenced by Artaud’s Theater of Cruelty, they pushed boundaries across decades: from participatory happenings of the 1960s to performances in favelas, factories, psychiatric hospitals, and prisons, ultimately returning to the streets with activist actions like Not In My Name. Today, The Living Theatre Europa, directed by longtime member Gary Brackett, continues this radical legacy in Italy and beyond, staging performances and leading workshops that fuse art and politics, challenging spectators to participate in social transformation.

https://www.livingeuropa.eu/