Guest Blogger of the Week: Judith Malina

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We would like to thank David J. Diamond for blogging for us last week. 

We are really excited to announce our next guest blogger, the legendary Judith Malina.

Malina founded The Living Theatre with husband Julian Beck in 1947 as an alternative to commercial theatre. Based in a variety of small New York locations which were frequently closed due to financial problems or conflicts with city authorities, they helped to establish Off-Off-Broadway and Off-Broadway as significant forces in U.S. theatre.

In the 1950s, the group was among the first in the nation to promote such international dramatists as Bertolt Brecht, Jean Cocteau, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Luigi Pirandello. Additionally, the Living Theatre took the unconventional step of performing the work of modernist poets, including T. S. Eliot, Paul Goodman, Gertrude Stein, and William Carlos Williams. Their work during this period shared some aspects of style and content with Beat generation writers.

The Brig (1963), an anti-authoritarian look at conditions in a Marine prison, was their last major Living Theatre production in New York before a disagreement with the IRS led to the closure of the theatre space and even the brief imprisonment of Beck and Malina. During the 1960s, the group toured chiefly in Europe, and turned to even more politically and formally radical work carrying an anarchist and pacifist message, with the company members creating plays collectively and often living together. Major works from this period included adaptations of Antigone, Frankenstein and Paradise Now, which became their best-known play. Paradise, a semi-improvisational piece involving audience participation, was notorious for a scene in which actors recited a list of social taboos that included nudity, while themselves disrobing. leading to multiple arrests for indecent exposure.

Having returned to the U.S. in 1968 to tour Paradise, the group broke apart the next year. Malina and Beck toured with the remaining members in Brazil, where they were imprisoned in 1971, then returned to New York to form a new version of the group. Though Beck passed away in 1985 after a two-year battle with stomach cancer, The Living Theatre has staged nearly 100 productions performed in 8 languages in 28 countries on 5 continents - a unique body of work that has influenced theater the world over.

In 2008, Malina received the Artistic Achievement Award from the New York Innovative Theatre Awards. This honor was presented to Malina by Olympia Dukakis on behalf of her peers and fellow artists of the Off-Off-Broadway community "in recognition of her unabashed pioneering spirit and unyielding dedication to her craft and the Off-Off-Broadway community".

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Experience International Theatre…Without Leaving Home

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Contributed by guest blogger of the week, David J. Diamond.

 

Fortunately, here in New York, we can see some of what is happening on stages around the world. La MaMa E.T.C. is dedicated to presenting experimental works from all over the world. During the next few weeks, there will be some of these opportunities to peek into the theatre world outside of the U.S. Check out these cutting-edge performances.

Next week, they begin the Perforations Festival New York, a week and a half of groundbreaking performances from the Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia. Perforations is a huge annual event in Croatia, which focuses on independent artists in performance art, theatre and dance, whose approach to creating art blurs the borders between these genres, according to its artistic director Zvonimir Dobrovic. Now we have a chance to experience it here. Dobrovic says, “The Festival will offer the audience insight into contemporary lines of artistic thinking from some of the most provocative and influential artists fro the region who are shaping a wider artistic and cultural landscape.”

Ellen Stewart’s commitment to presenting work from this region has been longstanding. According to La MaMa artistic director Mia Yoo, “These artists working independently out side the state subsidized institutions, are creating compelling and powerful art. La MaMa is proud to present this work. Continuing our artistic dialogue with these countries is a deep commitment of La MaMa.”

La MaMa is teaming up with The Public to present the return to New York of Belarus Free Theatre. I wrote about them in a previous post. They will be in residence at La MaMa for 5 weeks, performing three of their productions in repertory including Being Harold Pinter, which played during the Under the Radar Festival, Discover Love, which had one showing at the Theatre Without Borders Conference last September and Zone of Silence, which explores Belarussian taboos. It is still unclear when they will be allowed by the government of Belarus to go home to Minsk. At least they have been able to use their exile to share these important plays with audiences in other countries on their unintended world tour.

A particularly ambitious production from Ireland comes to La MaMa later in March. A dance performance, Fall and Recover, emerging from workshops with clients of Centre for Care for Survivors of Torture located in Dublin, Ireland mixes two outstanding Irish dancers with a cast of 11 torture survivors from nine countries. Celebrating the power of the human spirit, their dignity and determination will have live music by Rossa O’Snodaigh of the Irish world music band Kíla. As is often the case when presenting works from abroad, it can be challenging to get visas and funding to make these exchanges possible. It can take considerable political will and tenacity to help artists come to the United States.

International exchange was a major topic of the NoPassport Conference that just concluded at Nuyorican Poets Café. Caridad Svich has been organizing these convenings for five years. This year, the topic was Dreaming the Americas: Global Change in Performance, co-curated by Caridad, Catherine Coray (NYU) and Daniel Gallant (Executive Director, Nuyorican Poets Café). Among the provocative discussions were Activism in Performance, Genocide and Political Atrocity in Theater, Global Playground and Sundance Institute Theatre East Africa. Playwright Jose Rivera, gave the thoughtful and poetic keynote address.

Other conferences and performance venues around the country also take a global perspective on theatre. Erik Ehn’s Arts in One World Conference, which used to be occur at Cal Arts, where he was Dean of the Theatre Program, now also has a home at Brown University (where he heads the Playwriting Program). The International Theatre Institute, now housed at Theatre Communications Group, plays an important role in the annual TCG Conference (the next one coming up in Los Angeles in June,) with visitors from many countries (including two exceptional Iraqi artists) participating in the discussions, workshops and performances.  Under the Radar, a performance festival curated by Mark Russell and produced by The Public Theater includes many lesser known performing groups from abroad, while The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival provides a venue for larger works of better known companies such as those of Robert Wilson, Ivo van Hove and the late Pina Bausch.

There are lots of resources out there for artists interested in working abroad and learning more about international opportunities. Some of my favorites are Kadmus Arts, for everything to do with international festivals, On-the-Move for information about conferences, workshops, performances and other opportunities, Theatre Communications Group, which houses the US Center for the International Theatre Institute (ITI). Excellent lists of resources are also available on the Theatre Without Borders website.

It has been a privilege and a pleasure to have had the opportunity to blog at you this week. Thanks to the Innovative Theatre Foundation, Shay Gines and all of you who faithfully followed my ramblings for the past few days. If you’d like to keep abreast of my doings, please visit my website and sign up for my mailing list: www.davidjdiamond.com.

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A Place To Create

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Contributed by guest blogger of the week, David J. Diamond.

 

“I’ve always wanted to make a way by which as many young artists as possible could travel to Europe, or Asia, or wherever. I think it’s the best thing for developing the artists, particularly the American artist. I think in world terms. I believe we are one race, and everybody is in that race. And one day we are going to learn to trust what is within us, so that we can be in tune with the world, the earth, the moon, the stars, the universe.”  

--- Ellen Stewart

 


The whole point of having an international symposium in Italy every summer is to challenge artists to think about the act of creation in new ways. When they bump up against different ways of working, ways of thinking about what theatre can do, ways of reaching an audience, they become more substantial artists themselves. It’s not easy to describe what happens to the artists who experience a summer at La MaMa Umbria. They are definitely changed. I’ve never been involved with a program that has generated as much gratitude from participants for providing them an opportunity to grow as artists and as people. And we have a lot of fun. That is key to the learning. 

Participants talk about how well they are taken care of at La MaMa Umbria. That is Ellen’s legacy. We prepare and serve the meals, which are expertly prepared by our beloved Elisa, with many ingredients coming directly from our garden and orchard; we clean your room, even do your laundry. We provide an environment that provides the maximum opportunity to focus on the creative work. And then we bring together extraordinary, working professional theatre-makers who are also gifted teachers to share their perspectives and engage the participants in active, participatory exercises that force them to “try on” new techniques. For eight hours a day, the participating artists stretch and learn and grow. Then there is time to share with each other informally. Living and working together, you get close quickly (if you want to) and you can engage iconic masters in one-on-one conversations about life and art.

La MaMa Umbria is tucked away in the hills surrounded by olive groves and vineyards, farms and forests. Yet it is close enough to the greatest cultural treasures to be found in Italy, that we can’t let you get away without experiencing the art and culture of this unique part of the world. Spoleto, the nearest town, is home to one of the great arts festivals of Europe: The Festival of Two Worlds. The town boasts theatres from four centuries, which are still used today. Dance troupes perform outdoors at Teatro Romano, the Roman theatre from the 1st century; operas are done at Teatro Nuovo (the “new” theatre, that is, 19th century). There’s also a 17th century opera house called Caio Melisso and “black box” (which is actually a stone box) below Caio Melisso, called Teatrino delle Sei (the Six O’Clock Theatre) for more experimental work. Many other spaces from churchyards to movie theatres are also used as performance venues during the Festival. The Spoleto

Festival was begun by Giancarlo Menotti (the opera composer) 55 years ago, and run by him until he died a few years ago. It attracts the worlds top musicians, dance troupes, theatre companies and visual artists.

We insist on taking everyone who participates in La MaMa Umbria programs to Assisi to visit the Church of St. Francis, where some of the greatest religious frescoes in the world adorn the walls (by Giotto and other artists). We can also see the Church of Santa Chiara, named for St. Clare, a follower of St. Francis, whose order of nuns were called the “poor Clares” on account of their pledge of poverty. This is the church that houses the crucifix of San Damiano, which supposedly gave Francis a signal that he should give up his errant ways and devote his life to worship and good deeds. We also visit the Umbrian hilltowns, Orvieto,

Perugia (especially during the great Umbria Jazz Festival), Deruta (to see the ancient art of ceramic-making, still practiced today) and others. We may have a wine-tasting at one of the vineyards on the Strada di Sagrantino and tour the wine-making process which combines modern technology with ancient ways.

Yes, we drink a fair bit of wine and eat our share of gelato (my particular weakness.) But the focus is always on the creative process. This summer, we are offering our most ambitious program yet. [www.lamama.org/programs/lamama-umbria-international.html] Our 12th Annual Symposium for Directors brings together the talents of Ping Chong, Ruth Maleczech, Luca Ronconi, Dijana Milosevic, Baba Israel, JoAnne Akalaitis, Dorcy Rugamba and others. Dorcy comes from Rwanda, where much of his family was killed in the genocide. His response was to create a six-hour play with a cast of 40 which played the Avignon Theatre Festival and toured for the next four years. Dijana is artistic director of Serbia’s DAH Theatre, which is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. Luca is an iconic star of the Italian theatre, having run the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, the Venice Biennale and other theatres. Ruth Maleczech will take a look at American classic texts from her Mabou Mines-inspired experience. Ping shares his techniques for combining movement, text, sound, space and image.

This is the 5th year we are providing a space for playwrights during the Playwright Retreat. Facilitated in the past by Lisa Kron, Naomi Izuka, Chuck Mee and Lynn Nottage, this year we are lucky to have Erik Ehn, head of playwriting at Brown University as our teaching artist. In addition to learning from Erik, the writers have lots of time to write in the serene, pastoral environment of La MaMa.

We have two new programs this year: The First Annual Master Acting Workshops and Cricot-2 Workshops. Cricot-2 is the company founded by Polish master director, Tadeusz Kantor. Kantor and Ellen Stewart were very close friends. His major works had their US premieres at La MaMa in New York. I remember seeing a couple of them in the later years: The Dead Class was particularly haunting to me. Kantor used to direct the actors while sitting on a stool onstage with them DURING the performances. While they were dragging themselves across the stage portraying Easter European war refugees, he would yelling at them. It was extraordinary. (He spoke in Polish, so I was never sure what he was saying.) After he died, the Company came back to La MaMa without him, but the empty stool sat there during the performance, just as before. Haunting.


Our Master Acting Workshop will be led by two great artists: Tina Landau and André De Shields. Tina’s work with The Viewpoints and composition will compliment André’s intense physical and vocal work. Both artists have long associations with La MaMa. André’s Cotton Club revue remains of highlight of my La MaMa theatergoing experiences.

We encourage you to check out our programs and get involved. The experience is bound to affect you in untold ways. Here’s what one participant had to say about her time at La MaMa Umbria:

“The month that I spent at La MaMa Umbria gave me the most precious thing that you could give to an artist: time to think.  It was great to get away from the business of theatre and really delve into what theatre meant as an art form.  I remember those early mornings stretching on the field overlooking the valley below, later meeting and talking with other participants in our workshops about life and art.  This wonderful mixture of solitude and interaction really gave me space to breathe and inspired me to continue creating.”

-- Stacey Christodoulou (2008)

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Acting Together on the World Stage

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Contributed by guest blogger of the week, David J. Diamond.

There was a time I came to Ellen Stewart with an idea for a project when she again said, “Yes” immediately. It was less than two years ago. The project was a conference bringing artists from around the world together to discuss theatre and peacebuilding. The idea came from Roberta Levitow and her colleagues at Theatre Without Borders. She was speaking on the subject at a TCG (Theatre Communications Group) Conference breakout session. She had been working with Cynthia Cohen at Brandeis University on a documentary film highlighting case studies of theatre and peacebuilding going on in conflict zones in several countries. The documentary was on its way to completion and case studies to publication. She imagined a Conference where the film would be shown and the case studies discussed. When I heard the idea, I immediately thought of La MaMa. What better place could there be to showcase international artists and their work changing lives in the most challenging environments in the world? Ellen had visited most of the places where these companies were struggling to survive: Serbia, The Sudan, Cambodia, Israel/Palastine, etc. She was committed to sharing and supporting their work.

Working with Theatre Without Borders – Roberta, Daniel Banks, Catherince Filloux – on this Conference, changed my life yet again. I was consistently inspired by these three remarkable artists. We stepped into unknown territory together. We started with the premise that we wanted to invite everyone we knew who was working in theatre and peacebuilding; we wanted companies to come and perform, artists to speak about their work, artists to conduct workshops AND we had no money to pay for any of it. Zero. Nada. Bupkis. Thus began the roller coaster that became the ground-breaking convening: Acting Together on the World Stage: Theatre and Peacebuilding in Conflict Zones. 

Natalya Koliada, Artistic Director,
Belarus Free Theatre

It has been said that when you commit to something, suddenly resources come to you from places you hadn’t expected, doors open, people respond. We didn’t have the right to expect anyone would respond to our invitations, our pleas. But then something wonderful happened. People started saying, “Yes” to us, over and over again. First it was Ellen Stewart who generously offered us the use of La MaMa’s theatres in New York City, the week before the La MaMa season was to begin in September, 2010. Cynthia Cohen and the Coexistence Project at Brandeis became a major collaborator. They would present the premiere screening of the finished documentary. Support came from all over, from 651 ARTS/Africa Exchange; Brandeis University; Nathan Cummings Foundation Arts and Culture Program; Fordham University; The Public Theater; The Romanian Cultural Institute of New York and others.

Leng Sithul & Chhon Sina came from Cambodia to read a moving play by Morm Sokly. Belarus Free Theatre brought their production of  Discover Love; Serbia’s DAH Theatre presented Crossing the Line and the Albugaa Theatre from Sudan culminated the weekend’s events with their Theatre of Festivity, which is typically performed in refugee camps in Darfur. Everyone figured out how to get to New York for a 

Conference that wasn’t paying for anything – just offering a venue to share their work with colleagues who were facing similar challenges, doing theatre in conflict areas. As the Conference unfolded, the electricity in the Ellen Stewart Theate was palpable. We had a sense that something extraordinary was happening.

We learned about theatre in Iraq and Afghanistan, Pakistan and Belarus, Burma and Kenya, Ireland and Zimbabwe. In all, we had representatives from over thirty countries, at an event that was sold-out with over 300 participants. Dr. Barbara Love from University of Massachusetts at Amherst spoke about strategies for transformation and healing. She inspired us to start the process of forgiveness by forgiving ourselves. James Thompson of the University of Manchester (UK) gave a performance/lecture on the Bindunuwewa child soldier massacre in Sri Landa in 2000. He made a strong case for understanding how our “good intentions” to help people might be manipulated by governments for their own ends and challenged us to look closely at who we are affecting by our actions, no matter how noble. What responsibility do we take for the actions of those whose independent thinking we inspire?

As a result of my personal involvement with the Conference, I met extraordinary artists with whom I hope to collaborate in the coming months. I have become interested in the struggles of a small theatre company in Lahore, Pakistan (Ajoka Theatre) who work for social change in a place where “social change” itself is subversive. I began a collaboration with a Kurdish artist I hope to visit this summer.

Protest against Belarus oppression 

I became closer to members of Belarus Free Theatre. Their struggles have become major news stories across the U.S. and internationally. Protesting their government’s recent election at a peaceful rally in Minsk, Belarus, many members of the Company were arrested. (They were scheduled to come back to New York to present a different play, Being Harold Pinter, at La MaMa as part of Under the Radar Festival in January, 2011.) Released from prison, but being harassed by the authorities, we had no idea whether they would be able to leave the country. Thanks to the ingenuity of their colleagues in the U.S., particularly Mark Russell, producer of the Under the Radar Festival, they were smuggled to Moscow, so they could fly to New York from there, arriving just a couple of days prior to their opening at La MaMa. Evidently, after they left Belarus, the KGB ransacked their homes.

The New York theatre community was a major player at a protest held in support of the Belarussians that took place near their embassy. Key speakers included playwright Tony Kushner, Belarus Free Theatre Artistic Director Natalya Koliada and The Public Theater’s artistic director, Oskar Eustis. Theatre companies acted in solidarity with the BFT by presenting readings of Being Harold Pinter at cities around the U.S. at the same time it was being done in New York. We were speaking out not just for the artists of Belarus, but for freedom of speech for all people. The theatre company has experienced first-hand what happens to those who raise their voices against the status quo. It is still unclear when they will be able to return home.

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Ellen Stewart: International Icon

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Contributed by guest blogger of the week, David J. Diamond.

It seems like wherever I travel around the world, everyone knows Ellen Stewart and La MaMa Theatre (except, surprisingly for many places in the United States.) The breadth of her influence is astonishing. She was such an important part of my life as a theatre artist and also as a person; it is still hard to believe that she is gone. As you know, she passed away on January 13, 2011 at the age of 91. She lived every moment of her life to the fullest and she didn’t believe in the words, “It can’t be done.”  Her ceaseless creativity and her loving nature are the things about her I’ll remember the most.
 

Ellen Stewart & David Diamond

My initiation to La MaMa began when I first moved to New York City in 1980 to attend grad school at NYU in the Performance Studies Program. It was a fluke, what brought me to La MaMa at first. But now I think maybe not, maybe I was being directed in ways I didn’t understand. A colleague at NYU, Rick Richardson, asked me to assist him in stage managing a production at a small theatre in the East Village. I barely knew which way East was and I certainly had never heard of La MaMa. The show was T.N.T., the Musical, an EST-spoof, written by Richard Morrock and directed by Frank Carucci.
 

During the show at La MaMa and when it eventually moved to a commercial run Off-Broadway, I spent a bit of time with Ellen, but was completely intimidated by her. Fast-forward to fifteen years later. I had been traveling to Italy regularly by this time and Ellen always invited our groups to visit her at La MaMa Umbria International, the artists’ retreat she created just outside Spoleto, Italy.

When Ellen found this place, it was a wreck. She had it painstakingly restored, renovated and decorated, so that it became what you see today: a modern residence in a 700-year old borgo, with rehearsal studio, art gallery, café, outdoor stage, orchard, vegetable garden and lots of open space. Each room is outfitted with her collection of crafts and art collected during her world travels. There are collections of puppets, dolls, masks, pewter platters, blue glass, posters from productions she directed or produced, artwork done by friends, musical instruments from Africa, Asia, South America, everywhere. It’s like a museum, except for the fact that everything is useful and used.
 

La MaMa Umbria

One year, after spending some time visiting Larry Sacharow, then head of the Theatre Department at Fordham University, who organized a program for actors in Orvieto, Italy, I went to visit Ellen in Spoleto. Since I was working as Executive Director of Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, developing programs for the continuing education of directors was on my mind. I tentatively asked Ellen about the possibility of our producing a summer symposium for directors at La MaMa Umbria, bringing an international perspective on ways to create theatre. Unexpectedly, she said “Yes. Let’s do it!” I was stunned by the quick response. This summer we will be offering our 12th Annual International Symposium for Directors (among other programs) at La MaMa Umbria, thanks to Ellen, La MaMa Artistic Director Mia Yoo and our many collaborators.
 

But how did Ellen Stewart, the girl from Chicago, the first African American fashion designer hired by Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, who never had much interest in theatre, gain such international renown? That’s a story!
 

When Ellen first started Café La MaMa in New York in 1961 in a basement on Second Avenue, international theatre was the last thing on her mind. Her impetus came from her foster brother, Fred Lights and his friend Paul Foster, playwrights who were having difficulty getting produced in New York. Always ready to help a friend, Ellen decided that she would produce the plays herself – never having done anything like that before. She created the first incarnation of La MaMa, “dedicated to the playwright and all aspects of the theatre.” She produced plays by many unknown writers, such as Tom Eyen, Lanford Wilson, Sam Shepard, Jean Claude van Italie, etc. The plays would run at Café La MaMa and she would collect dues from the patrons – pay once a week and you could see all of the plays showing that week.
 

But the playwrights couldn’t get their plays reviewed or published. Ellen was told that if she took the plays to Europe, they would get reviewed and then they could get published back in the States, assuring the writers greater visibility and more productions. Using mostly her own money, Ellen bought plane tickets for her troupe of actors, directors, designers and writers. They traveled across Europe, doing productions and getting reviews.
 

Ellen Stewart and Andre Seban

In the following years, Ellen traveled consistently to Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. She discovered talent wherever she went and invited her discoveries to come to New York. She often found them housing and paid for their meals, so they could work on their productions. Using money from her design business, she “took care” of many artists (both foreign and domestic). Artists such as Andre Serban, Tadeusz Kantor, Jean-Guy Lecat, Jerzy Grotowski, Ryszard Cieslak, Peter Brook – the list goes on, developed long and ongoing collaborations with Ellen and La MaMa. She brought Kathakali dance to New York for the first time; she housed one of the first native American theatre troupes, Pan Asian Rep, HT Chen and Dancers and dozens more.
 

Eventually, La MaMa-style theatres spang up in a dozen countries from New Zealand to Israel. She was appointed an “Officer” in the “Odre Des Arts Et Letters” of the Republic of France and received the Les Kurbas Award for “Distinguished Services to Art and Culture” from the Ukraine. In December 1994 Ellen Stewart was awarded the “Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette” by the Emperor of Japan. She also received the Human Rights Award of the Philippines from President Corazon Aquino among many other awards.
 

Her influence on theatre around the world will continue as La MaMa E.T.C. in New York continues to bring artists to the U.S. and La MaMa Umbria remains a center for artists to grow, study, learn, collaborate and share ideas that challenge what it means to create theatre. Ellen’s love of artists and her unique ability to manifest her vision continues to inpire me and countless others.

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International Theatre Month

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In honor of World Theatre Day (March 27th) we are dedicating March to the  International Theatre community. We have some great bloggers lined up.  Please stop by, ask questions and share your thoughts about how the OOB/Indie theatre community can be a part of the international theatre community. And also check out the NYC World Theatre Day blog.

 

We are very excited that our first blogger for International Theatre Month is David Diamond.

David J. Diamond's current projects include organizing and coordinating (along with Mia B. Yoo) the La MaMa International Symposium for Directors, now entering its 12th year, the La MaMa Playwrights Retreat in its fifth year and Master Acting Workshops. The Programs bring artists from around the world together to exchange ideas and interact creatively through workshops, rehearsals and performances. They take place at La MaMa Umbria in Spoleto, Italy in July and August. David serves on the Steering Committee for Theatre Without Borders and was one of the organizers of the 2010 Conference: Acting Together on the World Stage: Theatre and Peacebuilding in Conflict Zones. Current projects include creating a new theatre piece with musicians and other artists in Kurdistan and working with Ajoka Theater in Lahore, Pakistan on creating a theatre school, stabilizing the Company and actor training. He works with the US Army mentoring directors on Army bases in Europe. David teaches workshops for artists in career development at Yale School of Drama, Columbia University, National Theater Institute, DePaul University, among other colleges. He has an MA in Performance Studies from NYU. 

Do you want to get involved with the World Theatre Day activities here in  NYC?
Productions that have a performance on March 25-28 in NYC and would like to participate can register their production at www.nycwtd.com. To participate in World Theatre Day SPLAT Performances email info@nycwtd.com. For updates and more information check out the website at www.nycwtd.blogspot.com, follow the twitter feed @nycwtd or become a fan on facebook.

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