256 Pages
    by Routledge

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    'Theater legend Malina has written one of the most interesting studies of the avant-garde theatrical movement published in the last several years.' – CHOICE

    Judith Malina and The Living Theatre have been icons of political theatre for over six decades. What few realise is that she originally studied under one of the giants of twentieth century culture, Erwin Piscator, in his Dramatic Workshop at The New School in New York. Piscator founded the Workshop after emigrating to New York, having collaborated with Brecht to create "epic theatre" in Germany.

    The Piscator Notebook documents Malina’s intensive and idiosyncratic training at Piscator’s school. Part diary, part theatrical treatise, this unique and inspiring volume combines:

    • complete transcriptions of Malina’s diaries from her time as a student at the Dramatic Workshop, as well as reproductions of various of Piscator’s syllabi and teaching materials;
    • notes on Malina’s teachers, fellow students – including Marlon Brando and Tennessee Williams – and New School productions;
    • studies of Piscator’s process and influence, along with a new essay on the relationship between his teaching, Malina’s work with the Living Theatre and "The Ongoing Epic";
    • an introduction by performance pioneer, Richard Schechner.

    The Piscator Notebook is a compelling record of the genealogy of political theatre practice in the early 20th Century, from Europe to the US. But it is also a stunningly personal reflection on the pleasures and challenges of learning about theatre, charged with essential insights for the student and teacher, actor and director.

    'Piscator is the greatest theatre man of our time.' – Bertolt Brecht

    Foreword: by Richard Schechner

    Part 1: Weimar to The Dramatic Workshop

    Personal History

    Erwin Piscator: Germany to New York City

    The Founding of The Dramatic Workshop, 1940

    The Studio Theatre

    The Teachers of Piscator’s School

    Margrit Wyler

    Reiken Ben-Ari

    Chouteau Dyer

    Leo Kerz

    Paul Zucker

    Gloria Montemuro

    Alexander Ince

    Hans Sondheimer

    Henry Wendriner

    The Students

    George Bartenieff

    Anna Berger

    Sylvia Miles

    Marlon Brando

    Bea Arthur

    Howard Friedman

    Piscator’s Students

    My Personal Struggle to Enter The Dramatic Workshop

    Valeska Gert

    Lunar Bowels: an Audition Piece

    Part 2: The Notebook

    Part 3: The Ongoing Epic

    End of the Notebook and First Workshop Plays

    Julian Beck

    By Any Other Name and Maurice Schwartz’s Yiddish Art Theatre

    Piscator’s Basic Question: The Role of the Audience

    Becoming a Director: A Confession

    The Inspiration of Joseph Urban’s Architecture

    Eleanor Fitzgerald

    The Classes

    The March of Drama

    Theatre Research

    Theatre Research Critique

    The Plays

    The Sheepwell (Fuente Ovejuna)

    Franklin Roosevelt’s Death

    Lysistrata

    The Spook Sonata

    Hannele’s Way to Heaven

    The Aristocrats

    Agamemnon

    The Circle of Chalk

    The Flies

    Tonight We Improvise – Pirandello: Breaking into the Audience

    Kandinsky’s Great Insight

    Piscator and the Audience

    Objective Acting

    Between Two Worlds

    Piscator: Success and Failure

    Piscator’s Return to Germany – and to Berlin

    Eric Bentley

    Piscator’s Influence

    Piscator’s Influence: The Work of The Living Theatre

    Afterword: Political Theatre, Theatrical Politics: Epic Theatre in the 21st Century

    Biography

    Malina, Judith

    'Theater legend Malina has written one of the most interesting studies of the avant-garde theatrical movement published in the last several years. Highly recommended.' M.D. Whitlatch, CHOICE magazine