Paradise Now

N.p. N.p., 1968. Three single weight and one double weight vintage photographs and an original program from the 1968 premiere of The Living Theatre's experimental theatre piece "Paradise Now," performed on July 24 at a Carmelite cloister as part of the 22nd Avignon Festival in Avignon, France.

Three of the photographs with stamps of the Gamma photo agency or photographers on the verso, two with manuscript annotations regarding the production on the verso.

The program, published by Walter Swennen, contains the text of "Let Us Talk about Counterrevolution" from the play in both French and English.

After a dispute with the IRS led to the closing of their New York City theater in 1963, Julian Beck and Judith Malina moved The Living Theatre to Europe, where they toured almost exclusively, refining the group's vision of improvisational, collaborative, and participatory leftist theatre. In 1968 they debuted what would become their signature piece, "Paradise Now," at the Avignon Festival, where at the conclusion of the piece both performers and audience members took to the streets in a combination demonstration and parade that caused controversy among the residents of the town.

Program: 4.25 x 10.5 inches, 30 pages, saddle stapled in wrappers. Near Fine.

Photographs: Variously sized between 7.75 x 5.75 inches and 12 x 7.75 inches. Near Fine.


[Book #138257]