Living Theatre Presents KORACH, Previews 12/8

The Living Theatre, the oldest experimental theatre group still producing in the United States, continues its 63rd season with the world premiere of Judith Malina's KORACH - a new play based on the Biblical account of Korach, "the first recorded anarchist in history," who challenged the authority of Moses over the Israelites; a pivotal point in their 40-year trek through the desert after their liberation from Egyptian slavery - with previews to begin December 8, prior to its official press opening December 16 at The Living Theatre (21 Clinton Street). Judith Malina directs.

KORACH follows the history of anarchists who have been wiped out because they frightened the government. Inspired by the Books of Moses, the Jewish Mishnas, and also the Psalms, KORACH begins with the Israelites' trek through the desert and eventual uprising against Moses, lead by Korach and his tribe. Using live action and film, the play also looks at anarchists in Spain circa 1939, Russia circa 1921, and modern day.

KORACH is about the necessity of any state to eliminate dissident elements within it if it is to survive - and the responsibility of revolutionaries to present their ideas in a way as to not incite violence.

KORACH features a cast of 30, mostly young actors and some veterans of The Living Theatre, including Tom Walker (who has been a Living Theatre member for 39 years) as Moses; Carlo Altomare; Jerry Goralnick; and acclaimed actress Sheila Dabney, who will play Moses' Ethiopian wife. The production has original music and choreography, created by the company, and also music from composer Steve Taylor.

Under Judith Malina's guidance and experience, The Living Theatre vigorously continues its ongoing research of innovative theatre forms involving audience participation and new methods of communication and social/political organization.

Ms. Malina was born in 1926 in Kiel, Germany, and is the daughter of Rabbi Max Malina, one of the founders of the German Jewish Congregation in New York City. In 1947, after studying acting and directing at the Dramatic Workshop at the New School with Erwin Piscator, she and Julian Beck co-founded The Living Theatre as an artistic challenge to the commercial theater, producing nearly 100 production including THE CONNECTION, THE BRIG, FRANKENSTEIN, ANTIGONE, PARADISE NOW, SEVEN MEDITATIONS ON POLITICAL SADO-MASOCHISM, I AND I, and RESISTENZA. Her literary output includes the plays PARADISE NOW, MYSTERIES AND SMALLER PIECES and THE LEGACY OF CAIN; collections of her diaries including "The Diaries of Judith Malina 1947-1957" and "The Enormous Despair"; and two books of poetry, "Poems of a Wandering Jewess" and "Love and Politics." As an actress, she has appeared in films including "Dog Day Afternoon," "China Girl," "The Addams Family," "Household Saints," "Enemies: A Love Story," "The Deli," and "Nothing Ever Happens"; and television series including "ER," "Miami Vice," "The Street" and "The Sopranos."

In his New York Times review of the company's 2009 revival of THE CONNECTION, Charles Isherwood called The Living Theatre "a fierce fighter on the forward front of experimental theatre." The Living Theatre's most recent work include Judith Malina and Hanon Reznikov's EUREKA!, Judith Malina's MAUDIE AND JANE, and a revival of 1963 Obie Award-winner THE BRIG which christened the company's present home at 21 Clinton Street in 2007.

The Living Theatre was co-founded in 1947 by current artistic director Judith Malina and Julian Beck, who served as the company's executive director until his death in 1985. For more than six decades, the company has presented a unique body of work that has influenced theatre the world over, staging nearly a hundred productions, performed in nine languages in twenty-nine countries on five continents.

In the 1950s, The Living Theatre was among the first theater companies in the U.S. to produce the work of influential European playwrights such as Bertolt Brecht and Jean Cocteau, as well as modernist poets as T.S. Eliot and Gertrude Stein. Based in a variety of small New York locations that were frequently closed due to financial problems or conflicts with city authorities, they helped originate Off-Broadway as a significant force in U.S. theatre. Their work during this period shared some aspects of style and content with beat generation writers. Also during this time, the American composer Alan Hovhaness and John Cage worked closely with The Living Theatre, composing music for its productions. In 1959, THE CONNECTION attracted national attention for its harsh portrayal of drug addiction and its equally harsh language.

The Living Theatre has toured extensively throughout the world, often in non-traditional venues, such as streets and prisons. It has greatly influenced other American experimental theatre companies, notably The Open Theatre (founded by Living Theatre member Joseph Chaikin) and Bread & Puppet Theatre. Its productions have won three Obie Awards: THE CONNECTION (1959); THE BRIG (1963) and FRANKENSTEIN (1968).

Performances of Judith Malina's KORACH run December 8-February 28, 2011 at The Living Theatre (21 Clinton Street, just below Houston Street at Avenue B). Performances are Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm (with the following exceptions: no performances on December 24-25). Tickets are $20 ($15 Student/Senior/Military). Wednesday performances are "Pay What You Can." Please inquire about group rates. For reservations call 212-352-0255 or visit www.livingtheatre.org.

 

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