Production Language English

Country of Origin United States

Description In the 1968-69 season, when the Living Theatre was fresh from a self-imposed exile in Europe, they performed Paradise Now at BAM, often to confused or even outraged audiences who didn't know how to react to the confrontational strategies of the piece. Doing away entirely with the pretense of the fourth wall, the nearly nude actors in Paradise Now invited audience members onto the stage, asking them to dialogue on free love, the criminalization of marijuana use, and the violence of the Vietnam War. Judith Malina, co-founder of the Living Theatre, said that she hoped Paradise Now would inspire "a sense that now is the only moment that anybody has."  

Identifier 1968f.01979

VenueCarey Playhouse (Music Hall, BAM Rose Cinema)

actorJudith Malina, Julian Beck, Jim Anderson, Pamela Badyk, Cal Barber, Rod Beere, Carol Berger, Mel Clay, Rufus Collins, Pierre Devis, Echnation, Carl Einhorn, Gene Gordon, Roy Harris, Jenny Hecht, Frank Hoogeboom, Henry Howard, Nona Howard, Steven Ben Israel, Sandy Linden, Birgit Knabe, Michele Mareck, Mary Mary, Gianfranco Mantegna, Gunter Pannewitz, Dorothy Shari, William Shari, Luke Theodore, Steve Thompson, Jim Tiroff, Diana Van Tosh, Petra Vogt, Karen Weiss, Peter Weiss

co-directorJulian Beck, Judith Malina

top billingThe Living Theatre, Julian Beck, Judith Malina